^- 


THE 


NEWSPAPER  PRESS 


OF 


CHARLESTON,  S.  C. 


A   Chronological  and  Biographical  History, 

Embracing  a  period  of  One  Hundred 

and  Forty  Years. 


by 
WILLIAM   L.  KING. 


De  dictis  factisque  memoratu  dignis. 


CHARLESTON,  S.  C: 

EDWARD  PERRY,  (BOOK  PRESS)  149  MEETING  STREET. 

1872. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1872, 

Bv  WILLIAM  L.  KING, 

In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


C"h 


ARCHIBALD  EDWARD  MILLER. 


To  you,  sir,  the  only  surviving  typographer  of  the  past 
century,  now  living  in  this  City,  I  inscribe  this  work. 
As  you  are  aware,  it  is  the  only  history  of  the  rise  and 
progress  of  the  newspaper  press  of  Charleston,  S.  C.  I 
desire  to  prefix  your  name  to  this  brochure,  for  two  rea- 
sons. First,  as  an  acknowledgment  of  the  kindness  you 
have  ever  evinced  towards  the  craft.  Secondly,  because 
through  the  course  of  your  long  life,  you  have  been  that 
exemplar  of  rectitude  to  whom  they  of  the  stick  and  rule, 
will  point  in  the  future,  as  they  have  in  the  past,  with 
pride  and  honor. 

Very  truly,  yours, 

WILLIAM  L.  KING. 
Charleston,  8.  C,  1872. 


ivi71835 


PREFACE. 


The  attention  of  the  reader  is  invited  to  the  following 
pages,  indited  without  pretentious  or  special  claim  to  lit- 
erary merit.  The  author's  object  was  solely  to  prevent 
local,  historical  facts  from  passing  into  oblivion,  or  becom- 
ing apocryphal. 

To  those,  therefore,  who  love  to  look  back  upon  the  past, 
through  a  long  vista  of  nearly  a  century  and  a  half,  a  ver- 
itable record  of  events,  together  with  such  mutations  in 
their  order  of  succession  as  go  to  form  a  faithful  chrono- 
logical history  of  the  newspaper  press  of  Charleston,  will, 
perhaps,  command  that  consideration,  which  otherwise, 
could  only  be  claimed  through  richness  of  diction,  or  ele- 
gance of  style. 

The  author  is  among  those  who  believe  in  the  sentiment 
so  felicitously  expressed  by  DTsraeli  :  "  To  preserve  the 
past,  is  half  of  immortality/' 


CONTENTS. 


(.'H  AFTER    I. 

I 

The  art  of  printing. ..Claims  of  inventors. ..Its  beneficent  influences... 
The  author  of  this  brochure  a  printer... The  word  "  News"  figurative- 
ly interpreted. ..Newspapers. ..Their  origin  in  England. ..Advertising 
and  editing  in  early  time3... Social  organization  of  the  press  recom- 
mended...Want  of  a  proper  history  of  our  City  press. ..This  the  first 
written. ..Eleazer  Phillips  the  first  printer  in  the  Colony... Difficulties 
attending  this  compilation , 

CHAPTER    II. 

The  first  newspaper  in  the  Colony... Whitmarsh  its  publisher. ..Quaint 
extracts  therefrom..."  Charlestown"  half  a  century  without  a  news- 
paper...Errors  of  previous  historians  corrected... Death  of  Whit- 
marsh...Louis  Timothee,  his  successor... Death  of  Lewis  Timothy... 
First  wood-cut... Extremes  of  cold  and  warm  weather  in  "  Charles- 
town". ..First  disastrous  fire,  1740... Lewis  Timothy  succeeded  by  his 
widow,  as  publisher. ..Peter  Timothy,  her  son,  continues  the  Ga- 
zette...Change  in  its  style. ..Presentment  of  Grand  Jury,  174(3. ..The 
l  razette  and  «Tovernor  Glen 

CHAPTER    III. 

The  Gazette  and  Country  Journal. ..Charles  and  Mary  Crouch..." The 
Exchange  and  Custom  House,"  1767. ..Peter  and  John  Horlbeck, 
builders. ..Second  disastrous  fire,  1778. ..South  Carolina  and  American 
Central  Gazette—Royal  Gazette;   1781-82. ...John    Miller   publishes 


viii  CONTENTS. 

PACJE. 

Bouth  Carolina  Gasette  and  General  Advertiser. ..Appointed  printer 
to  the  State,  by  our  delegation  In  Congress—Conclusion  of  the  war 
of  Independence...  Miller  publishes  official  account—Thomas  Hall, 
Post  Master. ..1  he  primitive  mail  carriers. ..Record  of  Post  Masters..       21 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Charleston  Incorporated. ..Thirteen  Wards  created. ..First  Wardens... 
Representatives  of  the  Parishes  of  St.  Philip  and  St.  Michael — First 
[ntendant... Elections  endorsed  by  the  press. ..The  hells  of  St  Mi- 
chael's  Church...The  first  Circulating  Library,  1783-John  Miller... 
ili^  Weekly  Messenger... Death  of  John  Miller— Columbian  Herald 
<.r  Patriotic  Courier  of  North  America—Other  papers  and  their  edi- 
tors...Third  and  Fourth  disastrous  (ires,  1796  and  1800 20 

CHAPTER    V. 

Crime  in  1786...The  murder  of  Nicholas  John  Wightman... Males  and 
Females  implicated  ...Their  condemnation  and  execution. ..Capri- 
cious marriage  announcement. ..Two  travelling  Algerinos... Ramsay's 
History  of  South  Carolina  obnoxious  to  the  British  Government... 
South  Carolina  State  Gazette  and  Timothy  and  Mason's  Daily  Ad- 
vertiser         *3 

CHAPTER    VI. 

David  R.  Williams,  E.  S.  Thomas  and  other  editors... The  City  Gazette 
and  Daily  Advertiser... The  Daily  Evening  Post. ..The  fifth  disastrous 
fire,  October,  1810... Earthquakes. ..Skinner  and  Whilden... Crime  ram- 
punt. ..Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fisher. ..Their  arrest  and  execution. ..The  sixth 
disastrous  fire,  February,  1835. ..The  Gazette  and  its  editors,  from 
1822  to  1832... William  Gilmore  Simms...The  seventh  disastrous  fire, 
June,  1835. ..Absorption  of  the  Gazette  by  the  Courier 55 

CHAPTER    VII. 

The  State  Rights  and  Free  Trade  Evening  Post.. .John  A.  Stuart,. .J.  C. 
Norrie... B.   R,  Gitsinger...The  Post  changes  hands... It  dies. ..The 


CONTENTS.  IX 

PAGE. 

Palmetto  Battery. ..James  Wright  Simmons. ..The  Times  and  Politi- 
cal and  Commercial  Evening  Gazette,  1806-8. ..Thomas  Campbell 
Cox. ..William  P.  Young. ..Thomas  Sheppard...The  Franklin  Head 
sign,  1814. ..The  Times  changes  proprietors. ..Skrine  &  Duke...T.  G. 
Skrine  last  proprietor,  182-1... The  Investigator  ...  John  Mac-key... 
TurnbulPs  attack  on  Mac-key... A  tory  mob  attacks  the  office  of  the 
Investigator. ..John  Lyde  Wilson,  editor,  author  and  Governor CD 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

The  Southern  Patriot  and  Commercial  Advertiser... Isaac  Hnrby... Rob- 
ert Howard. ..Jacob  N.  Cardozo... Martin  E.  Munro...The  Charleston 
Evening  News. ..John  Cunningham  and  his  coadjutors. ..The  Sun... 
Edward  8U1...H.  L.  Darr...A.  E.  Miller.. .John  C.  Hoff...The  Rose: 
Bud. ..Mrs.  Caroline  Gilman...The  Rambler... Dr.  John  B.  Irving 77 

CHAPTER    IX. 

The  only  Journal  of  the  past  and  present. ..First  issued  as  Charleston 
Courier,  January  10,  l803...Loring  Andrews,  A.  S.  Willington,  S.  C. 
Carpenter,  its  founders. ..Contents  epitomized. ..Ground-mole  plot... 
B.  B.  Smith,  F.  Dalcho,  P.  T.  Marchant,  1807. ..John  Palm 8'J 

CHAPTER      X. 

The  Courier  to  1809... Edmund  Morford...The  embargo. ..The  burning 
of  Placide's  Theatre,  Richmond... The  Courier's  East  Bay  location... 
Isidore  Gandonin...The  Commercial  Treaty. ..Mr.  Willington  as 
boarding  officer... Incidents. ..Joseph  Prevost  and  his  successors... 
Elford's  Observatory 101 

CHAPTER   XI. 

Title  of  the  Courier  changed,  1821. ..William  Crafts  as  editor. ..James 
Gordon  Bennett,  1823. ..The  Courier  power  and  steam  presses... Its 
thriftiness...A.  S.  Willington,  Richard  Yeadon,  William  S.  King,  pro- 
prietors...Celestial  phenomenon. ..A  perplexing  incident 10'j 


\  0ONTBNT8. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

PAGE. 

Fire  <>f  April  27,  1838... Lose  of  life  attending  it...History  of  "OldSeces- 
sion"...Charleston's  unparalleled  Bre,  December,  1861. ..The  Courier 
Forced  to  change  its  place  of  publication... W.  B.  Carlisle,  V.  S.  Bird 
;ind  A.  <  i.  Andrews. ..Whittemore  and  Johnson  take  possession  of 
the  courier  under  official  orders... Wm.  L.  Daggett...The  Courier 
reverts  to  its  proprietors  ll" 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

'I'll.'  Courier  and  it.-  principal  editors... A.  S.  Willington,  R.  Yeadon,  W. 
8.  King,  and  others. ..Nullification,  a  civil  excitement,  183l-'32...The 
Courier  and  politics... New  York  and  Charleston  line  of  steamers... 

Mexican  war. ..Pony  express...  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph 127 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

Death  of  Win.  S.  King,  1852. ..Alexander  Carroll  succeeds  as  editor... 
William  Laidler... James  H.  Murrcll... Henry  M.  Cushman... James  L. 
Batch...  William  B.  Carlisle  ...Thomas  Y.  Simons. ..Death  of  William 
Rogers,  1870 l\i<j 

CHAPTER    XV. 

The  Charleston  Mercury. ..Edmund  Morford  its  founder,  January, 
1822... Henry  L.  Pinckney... Extreme  cold  weather... An  exhibition  of 

popular  feeling. ..John  A.  Stuart. ..J.  M.  Clapp...John  E.  Care w... John 
Heart,  1837-49... William  R.  Taber,  Jr  ...R.  15.  Rhett,  Jr.... Henry  Tim- 
rod. ..End  of  the  Mercury 147 

CHAPTER   XVI. 

The  Southern  Standard... Its  proprietors  and  editors... Its  resistance  to 
separate  State  action. ..Triumphant  in  its  principles. ..End  of  the 
Standard... Hostile  encounter  of  Hatch  and  Cunningham 15'J 


CONTENTS.  XI 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

PAGE. 

Monthly  and  quarterly  publications  omitted... Weekly  paper?. ..The 
Catholic  Miscellany  under  Bishop  England,  and  others,  1822. ..Pope 
Pious  Tth  and  Bishop  England... Death  of  the  latter,  1842... End  of 
the  Miscellany,  1861. ..The  Wesleyan  Journal,  and  its  editors. ..The 
Charleston  Observer... Benjamin  Gildersleeve,  and  others,  lS26...The 
<  n, server,  its  removal  to  Richmond  and  its  failure. ..The  Southern 
Christian  Sentinel... Reverends  Thomas  Magruder  and  W.  C.  Dana... 
The  Southern  Presbyterian,  Reverend  N.  Baird,  and  its  other  edi- 
tors...The  Southern  Baptist  and  its  editors 165 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 

The  contemporaneous  press  of  1871.  -The  Charleston  Daily  News,  and 
its  corps  editorial. ..The  South  Carolina  Leader,  T.  Hurley  and 
others. ..The  Suedlicher  Correspondent. ..The  Referee. ..The  South- 
ern  Celt. ..The  Sunday  Times...The  Working  Christian 179 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

Remarks  l>y  the  author 1ST 


THE  NEWSPAPER  PRESS. 


!;  Hail  Printing,  Hail !  thou  thrice  illustrious  Art ! 
Which  clear"  d  the  Head,  and  which  reform'd  the  Hearc, 
Bless'd  with  new  Light,  a  superstitious  age, 
And  purg"d  the  Relies  of  barbariek  Rage  ; 
From  thee  celestial  Streams  of  Learning  flow, 
And  to  thy  Pow"r  we  pure  Religion  owe." 

[Rev'd.  Dr.  Birch.] 

CHAPTEE   I. 

THE    ART    OF   PRINTING CLAIMS    OF     INVENTORS — ITS    BE- 

NEFICENT  INFLUENCES — THE  AUTHOR  OF  THIS  BROCHURE 
A  PRINTER — THE  WORD  "NEWS"  FIGURATIVELY  INTER- 
PRETED— NEWSPAPERS — THEIR  ORIGIN  IN  ENGLAND — 
ADVERTISING  AND  EDITING  IN  EARLY  TIMES — SOCIAL 
ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  PRESS  RECOMMENDED — WANT  OF 
A  PROPER  HISTORY  OF  OUR  CITY  PRESS — THIS  THE  FIRST 
WRITTEN — ELEAZER  PHILLIPS  THE  FIRST  PRINTER  IN 
THE  COLONY DIFFICULTIES  ATTENDING  THIS  COMPILA- 
TION. 

Famous  among  the  inventive  arts  stands  Printing.  Its 
first  appearance,  between  the  years  1422  and  1436,  was  a 
new  era  in  civilization.  It  casts  around  mankind,  on  every 
side,  beneficent  influences.  Revelation  and  science  are 
taught  by  it  to  wear  the  garb,  and  speak  the  language  of 
unper verted  judgment. 
1 


2  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

It  does  not  clearly  appear  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for 
this  all-controlling  art.  The  city  of  Mentz,  situated  on  the 
Rhine,  just  below  its  confluence  with  the  Main,  and  the 
rich  and  populous  city  of  Haerlem,  the  one  in  Germany, 
and  the  other  on  the  river  Sparen,  in  Holland,  have  long 
contended  for  the  priority  of  its  invention.  Though  the 
popular  voice  is  in  favor  of  Mentz,  yet  Hadrianus  Ju- 
nius names  Haerlem  as  the  birth-place  of  this  noble  art. 

The  claim  of  individual  invention  seems,  after  sifting  the 
morvt  aulhec.tie  #at&,  to  be  equally  balanced  between  John 
Guttenlurg,  a  ktogEt  and  citizen,  and  Johann  Faust, 
both  of  the  former  city,  and  Laurentius  Villa,  sometimes 
called  Lawrence  Janszoon  Koster,  once  an  alderman  of 
the  latter  place. 

The  result  of  this  invention  is  most  happy.  The  very 
power  which  it  conveys  is  attended  with  peculiar  pleas- 
ure, such  as  few  other  arts  in  equal  measure  impart. 
The  compositor  at  his  case  can  complacently  consider  him- 
self the  disseminator  of  intelligence  to  legions,  and  main- 
tains a  secret,  yet  personal  influence,  over  a  boundless 
sphere.  He  feels  also,  that  he  is  serving  the  cause  of 
mankind,  and  his  labor  becomes  his  pleasure. 

In  the  autumn  of  1843,  the  author,  at  the  instance  of 
his  father,  Wm.  S.  King,  entered  as  an  apprentice  in  the 
office  of  The  Charleston  Courier,  a  journal  then,  as  now, 
owned  by  Messrs.  A.  S.  Wellington  &  Co.  The  business 
management  and  assistant  editorship  of  this  daily  was,  for 
many  years,  committed  to  his  father,  and  the  apprentice- 
ship was  during  its  continuance  under  his  supervision. 

To  many  of  the  craft  in  this  city,  this  information  is  un- 
necessary, yet  it  is  mentioned  to  show  that  however  distrust- 
ful the  author  may  feel  of  his  ability  to  do  justice  to  the 
work  now  undertaken,  he  has  at  least  the  merit  of  possess- 
ing, to  some  extent,  the  experience  which  may  be  regarded 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  6 

as  indispensable  to  its  proper  and  practical  exposition.  In- 
deed, lie  would  have  preferred  one  riper  in  years,  who  had 
been  at  the  case  longer  than  himself,  to  have  undertaken  a 
subject  which  has  been  so  long  neglected.  He  assumes 
the  task  without  any  apprehensions  of  its  labor,  and  feels 
that  he  will  be  stimulated  in  its  performance  by  the  con- 
viction that  it  is  a  pleasurable  duty. 

Many  persons  read  newspapers  without  considering  the 
importance  of  the  word  "  News,"  or  even  interpreting, 
figuratively,  the  import  which  is  attached  to  the  word.  In 
the  first  place,  news  come  from  all  quarters  of  the  globe, 
and  so  the  constituent  letters  of  the  word  itself  demon- 
strates, viz:  N.E.W.S. — North,  East,  West  and  South. 
No  language  furnishing  a  word  more  expressive.  Again, 
when  further  considered,  these  cardinal  letters  recommend 
to  us  the  practice  of  the  four  following  virtues  :  Nobleness 
in  our  thoughts,  Equity  in  our  dealings,  Wisdom  in  our 
conduct,  Sobriety  in  our  lives. 

The  newspaper  of  to-day  is,  in  every  respect,  far  in  ad- 
vance of  what  it  was  a  half  century  ago.  More  especially 
does  it  differ  in  point  of  management.  This  medium  has 
an  unlimited  agency  in  modern  society,  for  circulating  in- 
formation respecting  the  whole  range  of  human  concerns, 
from  the  affairs  of  nations,  and  the  researches  of  science,  to 
the  minutest  interests  of  individuals.  In  its  editorial  and 
general  conduct  there  is  perceptible,  also,  an  increased  fear- 
lessness.    Things  which  in  the  time  of  Junius*  would  have 

*  These  celebrated  letters  of  "Junius"  were  prepared  for  "  The  Public  Ad- 
vertiser," published  in  London.  The  Advertiser  was  published  for  forty 
years,  by  Henry  Sampson  Woodfall,  who  died  in  London  12th  September, 
1805,  aged  67  years.  From  a  paper  published  in  the  year  1788,  is  taken  the 
following  curious  political  anecdote  of  Garrick  and  Junius: 

"At  the  close  of  Junius's  political  warfare,  Mr.  Garrick  received  a  note  in 
his  dressing-room  from  the  present  Mr.  Henry  Sampson  Woodfall,  inform- 
ing him  that  the  Public  Advertiser  of  that  day  contained  the  last  letter  that 
would  be  published  by  that  very  celebrated  writer.    Convinced  that  the 


4  THE    NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

set  London  agog,  and  thoughts  not  less  eloquent  than  were 
written  in  those  sixty-nine  letters,  now  pass  almost  daily 
without  especial  notice.  So,  too,  with  the  mechanical  op- 
erations of  t lie  newspaper.  They  have  reached  a  perfec- 
tion calculated  to  astonish  those  who  may  examine  its  his- 
tory. 

In  England,  the  value  of  newspapers  was  first  appreci- 
ated in  the  solid  and  frugal  policy  of  Lord  Cecil  William 
Burleigh,  who,  for  nearly  forty  years,  was  the  most  suc- 
ful  Minister  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  For,  when  his 
country,  during  the  reign  of  that  Queen,  was  threatened 
hy  Spain  with  invasion,  he  availed  himself  of  their  use  and 
through  them  informed  the  people  of  the  enemy's  move- 
ments. The  designs  of  his  adversaries  were  thus  frequently 
overthrown. 

But  the  importance  of  these  printed  sheets,  then  only 
occasionally  issued,  was  not  thoroughly  understood,  until 
the  beginning  of  the  wars  which  occurred  between  Charles 
the  First  and  his  Parliament,  consequent  upon  the  main- 
tidings  of  such  an  event  would  be  highly  acceptable  at  Buckingham-House, 
Mr.  Garrick  instantly  wrote  to  Mr.  Ramus,  then  royal  factotum,  as  follows  : 
My  dear  Ramus,  Junius  writes  no  more ! 

Your's,  ever  truly,  p.  G." 

"Mr.  Ramus,  as  may  be  supposed,  lost  not  a  moment's  time  in  conveying 
this  agreeable  intelligence  to  the  Sovereign's  ear,  and  that  with  the  utmost 
privacy:  notwithstanding  which,  Mr.  Garrick,  to  his  unspeakable  astonish- 
ment, received  the  following  letter  the  next  day.  in  the  identical  hand- 
writing of  Junius  :  for  which  extraordinary  circumstance  he  was  unable  to 
account  to  the  day  of  his  death. 

COPY. 

Monday. 
Sir, 

"Your  prudential  habits  might  have  prevented  you  from  becoming  the 
unnecessary  intelligencer  of  my  designs.  I  stood  not  in  need  of  your  offices 
to  proclaim  my  intentions.  Probably  the  measure  was  suggested  by  some 
personal  vanity:  in  that  case  you  shall  not  long  remain  ungratified:  for, 
having  done  with  the  baneful  politics  of  Princes,  I  have  now  full  leisure  to 
descend  to  the  mimic  Monarchs  of  the  stage. 

JUNIUS." 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  0 

tenance  of  rights  which  encroached  on  royal  prerogatives. 
Then  began  that  competition  among  newspaper  writers, 
which  has  since  been  carried  to  a  most  remarkable  extent. 
The  rapid  and  wide  publicity  given  to  whatever  was 
printed,  soon  suggested  to  individuals  a  way,  not  only  to 
make  their  talents  apparent,  but  to  have  their  wishes 
fashioned  into  and  expressed  by  advertisements. 

The  editor  of  a  journal  formerly,  was  its  printer  and 
publisher ;  something  more,  he  was  a  sort  of  sponsor  for 
the  accuracy  of  its  advertising  customers.  The  sleep  of 
the  editor  of  the  present  day,  did  he  undertake  to  vouch 
for  all  of  the  advertisements  which  appear  in  the  columns 
of  his  paper,  would  not  be  a  repose  on  a  bed  of  roses. 

The  first  consideration  to  be  looked  to,  in  advancing  the 
newspaper  business,  is  the  necessity  among  proprietors  and 
editors  of  a  close  social  organization.  This  combination  is 
the  primary  secret  of  success,  and  was  so  regarded  by  the 
proprietors  and  editors  of  our  daily  papers,  who  stood  in 
former  years  as  a  host  within  themselves.  This  social  ex- 
istence appears  to  have  expired  with  its  projectors,  and  its 
principles  seem  to  have  been  entombed  with  them  when 
they  were  gathered  to  their  fathers. 

"The  treasures  of  antiquity  laid  up 
In  old  historic  rolls,  I  opened," 

and  in  opening  them,  find  it  refreshing  to  recall  the  char- 
acteristics of  those  able  editorial  workers  who  constituted 
the  old  Charleston  press.  Of  these,  but  few  now  survive. 
Neither  in  the  "  Reminiscences  of  South  Carolina,"  by 
E.  S.  Thomas,  who  but  casually  refers  to  the  newspaper 
press,  nor  in  the  valuable  works  of  Ramsay,  Fraser  or 
Dalcho,  (the  latter  in  early  life  an  editor,)  can  there  be 
found  any  record  of  the  Press  of  Charleston.  That  octo- 
genarian editor,  Jacob  N.  Cardozo,  in  his  "  Reminiscen- 


b  TITE   NEWSPAPEB   PEESS. 

but  a  brief  resume  of  tlie  Press  of  Charleston. 
In  this  particular  the  historians  of  our  craft  here  seemed  at 
i  to  have  been  remiss. 
IsATAif  Thomas,  LL.  D.,  of  Massachusetts,  one  of  the 
most  eminent  of  American  printers,  in  his  "History  of 
Printing  in  America,"  lias  paid  great  attention  to  the  sub- 
jecl  of  newspapers  in  general.  To  Eleazee  Phillips,  he 
gives  the  credit  of  having  been,  as  early  as  1730,  the  "  first 
printer  to  his  Majesty,"  but  does  not  say  that  he  published 
the  first  newspaper  in  the  Colony.  Thomas  does  not  even 
refer  to,  nor  does  he  seem  to  have  possessed  that  information 
in  regard  to  the  advent  of  the  press,  which  the  author  has 
gathered  from  the  records  of  that  exceedingly  valuable  in- 
stitution— the  Charleston  Library  Society,*  the  shelves  of 
which  are  peculiarly  rich  in  collections  of  costly,  rare,  and 
old  books.  Among  those  noted  for  their  antiquity,  are 
"  Maetiael's  Epigrams,"  published  in  Venice,  in  1491 ; 
11  The  second  folio  edition  of  William  Shakspeare's  Com- 
edies, Histories  and  Tragedies."  This  edition*)"  was  printed 
in  London  in  1632,  by  Thos.  Cote,  for  Robert  Allot,  and 
"sold  at  the  figure  of  the  Blacke  Beare,  in  St.  Paul's 
Church  Yard." 

*Shecut,  page  40 :  "Seventeen  gentlemen  obtained  in  the  year  1754,  an  act 
of  incorporation,  by  which  they  were  known  and  distinguished  as  the 
'  Charleston  Library  Society.'  " 

f  At  a  sale  in  New  York  city,  a  few  years  ago,  a  copy  of  the  first  edition  of 
this  work  was  "knocked  down"  for  the  sum  of  $127.  Both  of  the  works 
mentioned  as  being  in  the  Library,  are  in  a  remarkably  complete  state  of 
preservation. 


CHAPTEE   IT. 

THE   FIEST    NEWSPAPER    IN    THE    COLONY — WHITMARSH   ITS 

PUBLISHER QUAINT  EXTRACTS  THEREFROM ;'  CHARLES- 

TOWN"  HALF  A  CENTURY  WITHOUT  A  NEWSPAPER — ER- 
RORS   OF    PREVIOUS    HISTORIANS    CORRECTED — DEATH    OF 

WHITMABSH LOUIS    TIMOTHEE,    HIS    SUCCESSOR — DEATH 

OF     LEWIS      TIMOTHY — FIRST      WOOD-CUT EXTREMES     OF 

COLD  AND  WARM  WEATHER  IN  "  CHARLE3TOWN" — FIRST 
DISASTROUS  FIRE,  1740 — LEWIS  TIMOTHY  SUCCEEDED  BY 
HIS  WIDOW,  AS  PUBLISHER — PETER  TIMOTHY,  HER  SON, 
CONTINUES  THE  GAZETTE — CHANGE  IN  ITS  STYLE — PRE- 
SENTMENT OF  GRAND  JURY,  1746 — THE  GAZETTE  AND 
GOVERNOR  GLEN. 

From  information,  carefully  gathered,  it  appears  that 
the  first  newspaper  published  in  "  Charlestown,"  after  its 
permanent  settlement*  on  this  side  of  the  Ashley,  which 
was  in  1680,  was  "The  South  Carolina  Gazette,  which  con- 
tains the  freshest  advices,  Foreign  and  Domestick."  The 
leader  had  as  a  caption  this  motto,  taken  from  the  lines 
of  Horace  : 

"  Omne  tulit  punctum;  qui  miscuit  utile  dulci, 
Lectorem  deleetando,  pariterque  monendo." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  leader  or  introductory  article, 


*  In  the  exact  date  of  the  abandonment  of  the  settlement  known  as  "Old 
Town,"  which  was  "by  a  formal  command  of  the  proprietors,"  there  is  a 
discrepancy;  authorities,  however,  predominate  in  favor  of  16S0.  In  all 
probability,  the  transfer  from  "Old  Town"  to  "Oyster  Point,"  was  made 
early  in  that  year. 


8  THE   NEWSPAPEE  PRESS 

which  waa  signed    " Philo-Caroli  wore  the 

followii  !  "  To  ;•  I  may  conci  cd 

fco  know  nit' :" 

■•  I'm  not  Bigh-Chnreh,  nor  Low-<  Ihurch,  nor  Tory  nor  Whig, 
No  Qatt'ring  young  Coxcomb,  nor  formal  old  Prig. 
Not  eternally  talking,  nor  silently  quaint, 
No  profligate  .-inner,  no  pragmatical  Saint, 

I'm  not  vain  of  my  judgment,  n«.r  j)inn'd  on  a  Sleeve, 

Nor  implicitly  any  Thing  can  . 

To  sitt  Truth  iron:  all  Rubbisn,  1  do  what  I  can, 

And,  God  knows,  if  I  err — I'm  a  fallible  man. 

I  can  laugh  at  a  Jest,  if  not  crack'd  out  of  Time, 

And  excuse  a  mistake,  tho'  not  flatter  a  Crime. 

Any  Faults  of  my  Friends  I  would  scorn  to  expose, 

And  detest  private  scandal,  tho'  cast  on  my  Foes. 

I  put  none  to  the  Blush,  on  whatever  pretence, 

For  immodesty  shocks  both  good  Breeding  and  Sense. 

No  Man's  Person  1  hate,  though  his  Conduct  I  blame, 

I  can  sensure  a  Vice,  without  stabbing  a  name. 

To  amend— not  reproach— is  the  Bent  of  my  Mind, 

A  Reproof  is  half  lost,  when  ill  nature  isjoin'd. 

Where  Merit  appears,  tho'  in  Rags,  I  respect  it, 

And  plead  Virtue's  Cause,  should  the  whole  World  reject  it. 

Cool  Reason  I  bow  to,  wheresoever  'tis  found, 

And  rejoice  when  sound  Learning  with  favour  is  crown'd. 

To  no  Party  a  Slave,  in  no  Squabbles  I  join, 

Nor  damn  the  Opinion  that  differs  from  mine. 

Evil  Tongues  I  condemn,  no  mob  Treasons  I  sing, 

I  dote  on  my  Country,  and  am  Liege  to  my  King. 

Tho'  length  of  Days  I  desire,  yet  with  my  last  Breath, 

I'm  in  hopes  to  betray  no  mean  Dreadings  of  Death. 

And  as  to  the  Path  after  Death  to  be  Trod, 

I  rely  on  the  Will  of  a  merciful  God." 

Thomas  Whitmarsh  arrived  in  "  Charlestown"  early 
in  1731,  and  was  the  publisher  of  the  Gazette.  Whit- 
marsh took  this  step  with  much  fear  and  trembling,  and 
with  much  foreboding  of  failure.  This  feeling  was  express- 
ed by  repeated  appeals,  and  editorial  notices.  The  Gazette 
was  eleven  and  a  half  inches  in  length,  seven  in  width, 
containing  eight  columns,  two  to  a  page.  It  was  put  in 
circulation  on  "  Saturday,  January  8,  1731-2,"  and  issued 
weekly  from  the    "  sign  of  the  table-clock,  on  the  Bay, 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  y 

where  advertisements  are  taken  in."*  The  Gazette  was  sup- 
plied at  £'3  a  year.  Town  subscribers  were  requested  to 
send  for  their  papers  every  Saturday,  by  3  o'clock  ;  papers 
for  the  country  subscribers  were  kept  at  the  office. 

George  Webb  and  Eleazer  Phillips,  jr.,t  two  other 
printers,  arrived  in  "Charlestown'"  about  the  time  Thos. 
AYhitmarsh  came,  induced  hither  by  encouragement  held 
out  by  the  Governor  in  Council,  and  by  the  Assembly  of 
the  Province.  The  first  movement  to  establish  printing 
in  what  was  then  the  Colony,  was  by  Council,  in  December, 
1722.  In  January,  1724,  and  in  May,  1731,  movements 
were  again  made  to  have  a  printer  settle  in  the  Colony. 
That  no  printing  was  done  in  the  Colony  prior  to  1731  is 

♦Thomas  and  Ramsay  assert  that  "Newspapers  were  first  published  in 
South  Carolina,  in  or  about  1730,  by  Lewis  Timothy."  Sheeut,  chapter  iii, 
page  41-2— "The  first  nevv-paper  printed  in  the  Colony,  was  one  at  Charles- 
town,  sometime  in  the  year  1730.  The  venerable  Josiah  Smith,  who  has 
preserved  files  of  the  first  and  second  numbers  of  newspapers  printed  in 
Charlestown,  has.  within  the  past  year  (1819),  presented  them  to  the  Charles- 
ton Library  Society."  These  files  are  now  in  the  Library,  and  they  are  the 
oldest  Colonial  newspapers  in  that  repository;  they  bear  Josiah  Smith's 
autograph.  The  first  edition  is  dated  January  8, 1731-2.  Professor  Wm.  J. 
Rivers,  of  the  South  Carolina  Co'lege.  brought  to  our  attention  in  a  publica- 
tion of  his, in  the  September  number  of  Russell's  Magazine  for  1858.  a  few 
facts  about  the  introduction  of  printing  into  South  Carolina.  He  gathered 
them  from  the  manuscript  records  in  the  State  House,  at  Columbia.  In 
that  paper,  Professor  Rivers  questions  the  statement  of  the  above  histo- 
rians. He  says:  "If  this  was  the  ea~e.  why  did  the  Legislature  make  or 
renew  their  appropriation  on  21st  May.  1731,  for  the  encouragement  of  a 
printer  to  settle  here?"'  "If  printing,"  he  adds,  -was  introduced  in  1730, 
the  Legislature  seem  not  to  have  been  aware  of  it." 

f  Eleazer  Phillips,  jr.,  died  in  July,  1732.  His  father,  who  was  a  book- 
seller, advertised  nearly  two  years  after,  in  the  Gazette  for  a  settlement  of 
all  debts  due  himself  or  the  estate  of  his  son,  for  news,  printing,  &c.  Spe- 
cial mention  is  made  of  subscriptions  due  Eleazer  Phillips,  jr.,  for  six 
months  of  the  South  Carolina  Weekly  Journal,  a  paper  which  is  not 
named  in  any  of  the  early  records  of  t  3S,  and  of  which  no  other  trace 

can  be  found.  If  such  a  paper  did  exist,  it  must  either  have  preceded  the 
Gazette,  or  been  contemporary  with  it.  The  Gazette  has  been  commonly 
regarded  dy  the  first  in  time,  but  for  many  years,  the  only  newspa- 

per issued  in  the  Town  or  Province: 


10  THE    NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

proven  by  the  Blibjoined  quotation  from  Council  Journal, 
No.  5,  page  86,  in  the  State  House,  at  Columbia : 

May  21st,  1730.  The  following  was  sent  to  the  Lower 
House : 

"  We  take   this   opportunity  to  acquaint  you  that  His 

11  Excellency  has  informed  us  that  His  Majesty,  out  of  his 
"  great  goodness  to  this  Province,  will  be  pleased  to  print 
11  our  laws  at  his  own  charge,  and  send  over  as  many 
"  cojoies  as  may  be  necessary.  Therefore,  recommend  this 
"  matter  to  you,  that  a  copy  may  be  provided  of  such  laws 
"  as  are  necessary  to  be  printed,  that  they  may  be  sent 
"  to  Great  Britain  as  soon  as  possible." 

It  is  established  that  one  press  was  put  to  work  in  the 
Colony  as  early  as  1731,  and  this  fact  is  authenticated  by 
the  publication  of  several  pamphlets,  the  title  pages  of 
which  are  marked  of  that  date ;  and  a  further  corrobora- 
tion is  found  in  references  contained  in  The  South  Carolina 
Gazette,  of  the  year  following  ;  and  further,  from  mention 
made  in  the  Council  Journals  now  in  the  State  House  at 
Columbia,  in  manuscript. 

The  foreign  advices  in  the  first  number  of  the  Gazette, 
tell  that  "the  Charter  appointing  Trustees  for  establishing 
"  the  Colony  of  Georgia,  in  America,  is  passed  'the  Broad 
"  Seal,'  and  that  the  Right  Honorable  the  Lord  Percival, 
"  being  by  the  Charter  appointed  President  the  14th  in- 
stant, he  took  the  oath  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  his 
"  Trust,  before  the  Right  Honorable  the  Lord  Chief  Jus- 
tice, Baron  of  the  Exchequer." 

The  edition  of  January  20th,  1732,  states :  "  Saturday 
"  night  came  to  an  anchor  off  our  bar,  a  ship  with  about 
"  120  people  for  settling  the  new  Colony  of  Georgia,  in 
"  which  was  James  Oglethorpe,  Esquire,  who  came  ashore 
"  that  night,  and  was  extremely  well  received  by  His  Ex- 
"  cellency,  our  Governor ;  the  next  morning  he  went  on 


OF   CHARLESTON,   S.    C.  11 

11  board,  and  the  ship  sailed  for  Port  Royal ;  and  we  hear 
"  there  are  two  more  ships  with  people  (which  will  make 
"  the  number  500,)  expected  daily." 

The  settling  of  Georgia  was  begun  in  this  way  :  James 
Oglethorpe,  at  the  age  of  30,  being  then  a  member 
of  Parliament,  obtained  the  appointment  of  a  legisla- 
tive commission  to  inquire  into  "  the  state  of  debtor-pris- 
oners in  England."  The  report  of  that  commission,  in 
the  year  1729,  set  forth  so  much  suffering  and  oppression, 
that  Oglethorpe's  proposition  to  found  a  Colony  in  Amer- 
ica, was  adopted  by  the  British  Parliament.  With  this 
Colony,  Oglethorpe  designed  to  establish  a  settlement, 
which  should  also  be  an  "  asylum  for  the  persecuted  Pro- 
testants of  France,  Germany  and  Switzerland,  and  even, 
through  them,  of  converting  the  Indian  tribes  to  Chris- 
tianity." The  Royal  Charter,  incorporating  the  Colony  for 
twenty-one  years,  was  obtained  in  1732.  Oglethorpe, 
besides  being  a  philanthropist,  was  a  warrior,  and  served 
with  distinction  under  Prince  Eugexe,  in  his  campaign 
against  the  Turks. 

An  account  of  the  progress  of  this  first  Colony,  is  given 
in  the  issue  of  the  17th  March,  1733. 

The  domestic  information  in  the  Gazette  is,  "  one  day 
"last  week,  one  Richard  Birmingham,  belonging  to  his 
'•  Majesty's  ship  Shoreham,  was  drowned  in  Wappoo  Creek, 
"over  against  Colonel  Lucas'  plantation,  by  endeavoring 
"  to  get  the  grappling  up." 

Another  piece  of  domestic  information,  as  stated  in  the 
Gazette  of  the  27th  January,  1733,  was  to  this  end  :  "  On 
"  Saturday  last,  a  negro  fellow  belonging  to  Mr.  Isaac 
"  Mazyck,  Si\,  pull'd  a  young  lad  off  his  horse  on  the 
"  Broad  Path,  and  rode  away  with  the  horse  and  bags 
"thereon,  in  which  there  were  clothes  of  value.  He  was 
"taken  on  Sunday;   on  Monday  brought  to  Town,  tried 


12  TJJE    N  KVYsPA  i'KU    PRESS 

"  and  condemned ;    on  the  next  day,  about  noon,  he  was 
"  hanged." 

The  office  of  the  Gazette  was  removed  at  the  end  of 
March,  1732,  to  the  residence  of  Mr.  Hugh  Evans,  tailor, 
in  Church  Street,  within  a  few  doors  of  the  Secretary's 
office,*  and  the  paper  appeared  on  the  morning  of  the  1st 
April. 

From  the  above,  it  is  apparent  that  full  half  a  century 
had  elapsed  after  the  settlement  of  "  Charlestown  "  before 
the  first  public  journal  was  established.  South  Carolina 
was  the  fifth  Colony  in  which  a  newspaper  was  published. 

It  may  be  here  properly  mentioned,  that  the  pioneer  of 
the  American  Press  was  the  .News- Letter, \  which  was 
printed  in  Pudding  Lane,  Boston,  Massachusetts,  by  John 
Campbell.  Its  first  issue  was  from  "Monday,  April  17, 
to  Monday,  April  24, 1704."  It  was  printed  on  paper  nine 
inches  in  length  and  six  inches  in  width — pica  type.  The 
oldest  of  the  American  weekly  papers  now  extant,  is  the 
Newport  Mercury,  established  by  Benjamin  Franklin, 
A.  D.  1758.  That,  at  the  head  of  daily  newspapers,  in 
point  of  age,  is  the  North  American  and  United  /States 
Gazette,  of  Philadelphia.  It  is  the  direct  successor  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Packet  and  the  General  Advertiser,  first 
issued  October  28,  1771. 

To  recur.     The  advertisements  in   the   early  papers   of 

*The  Secretary's  office  was  then  located  on  the  east  side  of  Church  Street, 
between  the  streets  now  known  as  Elliott  and  Tradd.  John  Hamerton  was 
the  Secretary;  he  was  also  "Receiver  General  to  his  Majesty." 

-f-The  edition  of  tne  News-Letter,  published  for  the  week,  from  May  22  to 
May  29,  1710,  contains  but  one  advertisement,  viz.:  "Advertisement— Two 
negro  women,  one  aged  about  25,  and  the  other  about  30  years  old,  to  be 
sold  by  Mr.  Wm.  Clark,  Junior,  merchant,  to  be  seen  at  his  house,  Common 
Street,  Boston."  It  is  interesting  to  learn,  at  this  time,  that  the  first  and 
only  newspaper  printed  in  New  England,  one  hundred  and  sixty  years  ago, 
contained  a  solitary  advertisement,  and  that  was — offering  two  human 
beings  for  sale. 


OF   CHARLESTON,   S.    C.  13 

South  Carolina  were  limited,  and  were  devoted  more  par- 
ticularly to  the  settlement  of  estates,  official  notices  and 
estrays,  etc.,  than  to  any  regular  commercial  publicity. 
In  these  early  papers  will  be  seen  strong  indications  of 
the  lively  interest  and  participation  taken  in  the  slave 
trade,  for  the  supply  of  Charleston,  which  was  afterwards 
continued  on  the  part  of  our  little  sister  State.  Rhode 
Island.  A  considerable  portion  of  the  shipping  reported 
in  1732.  as  engaged  in  the  Charleston  trade,  is  credited  to 
Ehode  Island. 

The  value  of  the  investments  in  commerce  and  busi- 
ness generally,  with  its  increased  trade,  induced  a  corres- 
pondence, in  the  year  1733,  on  the  question  of  insurance. 
The  resident  merchants  of  "  Charlestown  "  desired  to  be 
underwritten  from  the  offices  of  London  and  Bristol,  the 
most  frequented  ports  of  the  "  Mother  Country  ;*'  but  the 
request  was  declined,  on  the  ground  that  no  charter  then 
existing  permitted  such  risks.  The  city  was  thus  left  to 
its  own  resources,  and  in  four  years  after,  the  residents 
organized  a  mutual  voluntary  insurance  association.  Some 
other  attempts  seem  to  have  been  made  in  1732  to  organ- 
ize these  associations,  but  without  any  definite  result. 
The  largest  capitals  were  invested  in  ways  that  could  be 
protected,  and  it  was  property  in  the  city  that  desired 
guarantees. 

Other  lines  of  inquiry  and  incidental  research  are  sup- 
plied by  the  gazettes,  as  to  the  subjects,  courses  and  modes 
of  trade,  occupations,  manners,  habits,  etc.,  of  the  growing 
and  struggling  city,  which  was  for  years  threatened  by  the 
sea  itself,  and  by  enemies  from  the  sea,  on  one  side,  and  on 
the  other  by  savages  and  European  foes. 

Thomas  Whitmarsh  continued  to  be  the  printer  of 
The  South  Carolina  Gazette  until  his  course  was  arrested 
by  death,  which  was  from  yellow  or  strangers'  fever,  in 

2 


14  THE   NEWSPAPER   TRESS 

the  summer  of  1733.  The  paper  was  continued  in  his 
name,  and  in  the  last  number,  to  which  the  name  of 
Whitmarsh  is  affixed,  lb  thai  from  September  1  to  Sep- 
tember 8,  1733.  This  appeal  is  made  in  the  edition  dated 
August  4  to  August  11,  1733,  with  the  view  of  closing 
up  the  affairs  of  the  first  publisher — 

"  Gentlemen  :  It  is  but  a  little  to  each  of  you,  tho'  it 
"  will  be  a  considerable  sum  to  me ;  and  lying  in  many 
11  hands  wide  from  each  other,  (according  to  the  Nature  of 
11  our  Business,)  it  is  highly  inconvenient,  and  scarce  practi- 
11  cable  for  me  to  call  upon  every  one ;  I  shall,  therefore, 
"  think  myself  particularly  obliged,  and  take  it  very  kind 
11  of  those  who  are  mindful  to  send  or  bring  it  in  without 
"  further  notice." 

Nothing  beyond  this  is  known  of  the  publisher,  Whit- 
marsh. 

Lewis  Timothy,  the  successor  of  Whitmarsh,  was  a 
French  refugee  ;  he  went  to  Holland,  and  from  thence  to 
"  Charlestown,"  early  in  1733.  In  February  of  the  same 
year  he  became  the  proprietor  and  editor  of  the  Gazette, 
and  published  it  in  Union  Street,  now  known  as  State 
Street.  Up  to  April  6th,  1734,  he  signed  his  name  as 
Louis  Timothee  ;  from  that  period  he  anglicized  it  to 
Lewis  Timothy.  His  demise,  the  result  of  an  "  unhappy 
accident,"  took  place  in  December,  1738. 

In  the  issue  of  the  Gazette  of  21st  June,  1735,  the  first 
wood-cut  appeared — that  of  a  horse  ;  it  bore  but  little 
resemblance  to  the  object  which  it  pretended  to  represent. 
The  proprietor  of  the  paper  used  it  in  an  advertisement, 
inserted  by  Fran.  Le  Brasseur,  who  made  known  the 
fact  that  "  a  bay  mare  had  been  taken  astray  on  his  plan- 
"  tation,  near  Goose  Creek." 

The  same  paper,  in  its  number  of  the  22nd  January, 
1737,  mentions  that  "  We  have  had  so  cold  weather  here, 


OF    CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  15 

"  tliat  in  one  night  between  Tuesday  and  Wednesday  the 
"  water  in  the  creeks  and  ponds  in  and  about  the  Town, 
"  was  frozen  near  three  inches  thick." 

Having  given  data  for  cold  weather,  which  can  scarcely 
be  surpassed  in  Charleston,  in  point  of  severity,  we  have 
concluded  to  quote  from  two  authorities,  in  relation  to  the 
intensity  of  the  heat  known  here. 

It  is  not  unfrequently  the  case,  that  after  having  laid 
aside  the  newspaper  which  has  announced  the  "  Hottest 
Day,"  the  reader  is  very  apt  to  encounter  in  the  daily  in- 
tercourse with  his  fellow-citizens,  some  one  of  that  class  of 
croakers,  who  having  no  moderation  in  their  minds,  give 
evidence  of  the  same  deficiency  in  their  conversation. 
With  them  a  moderate  degree  of  language  is  seldom  or 
never  given  utterance  to  ;  but  on  the  other  hand,  the  super- 
lative degree  is  ever  predominant.  After  the  perusal  of  the 
following  extracts,  the  quid  nunc  will  be  convinced  that 
he  has  not  as  yet  experienced  the  "  Hottest  Day"  ever 
known. 

The  Rev'd.  Mr.  Hewett  records  a  very  remarkable 
season  of  hot  and  dry  weather.  He  says  :  "  During  the 
"summer  of  1728,  the  weather  in  Carolina  was  observed 
"  to  be  uncommonly  hot,  by  which  the  face  of  the  earth 
"  was  entirely  parched ;  the  pools  of  standing  water  dried 
"  up,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field  reduced  to  the  greatest 
"  distress." 

Dr.  Chalmers  speaks  of  the  year  1752  as  "  excessively 
"hot  and  dry  in  Charlestown  ;  many  cattle  perished  for 
"  want  of  water ;  the  plants  were  shrunk  and  withered, 
"and  the  distress  of  man  and  beast  was  indescribable. 
"  When  the  mercury  rose  to  the  97  and  98  degrees  of  the 
"  thermometer  in  the  shade,  the  atmosphere  seemed  in  a 
"  glow.  At  bed  time  it  was  not  possible  to  lie  long  still ; 
"  some  of  the  inhabitants  were  compelled  to  lay  about  on 


1G  THE    NEWSPAPEB    PR] 

"the  pavements.  This  circumstance  is  corroborated  by 
"the  venerable  Josiah  Smith,  who  informed  me  that  so 
"intense  was  the  heat,  thai  along  the  Bay  he  observed 
"many  families  who  had  their  beda  made  in  their  bal- 
"  conies." 

"Bodies  thai  died  putrified  in  live  hours,  and  a  candle 
"  that  was  blown  out  at  this  season,  and  set  in  a  chimney 
"  at  10  o'clock  at  night,  the  wick  continued  to  burn  clearly 
"  until  next  morning,  and  was  likely  to  do  so  for  many 
"  hours  longer." 

The  following  description  of  the  first,  and  perhaps  the 
most  serious  fire  which  befell  "  Charlestown,"  is  extracted 
from  The  South  Carolina  Gazette,  of  the  20th  November, 
1740: 

On  Tuesday,  the  18th  instant,  a  "  Fire  broke  out  in  this 
"  Town,  at  2  o'clock,  on  the  afternoon,  which  consumed  the 
"houses  from  Broad  Street  and  Church  Street,  down  to 
"  Granville  Bastion,  (which  was  the  most  valuable  part  of 
"  the  Town,  on  account  of  the  buildings  and  trade),  not- 
"  withstanding  the  utmost  care  and  diligence  of  the  inhab- 
"  itants  of  all  ranks,  who  were  very  active  in  their  endea- 
"  vors  to  extinguish  it,  The  fire  likewise-  consumed  all  the 
"houses  on  the  West  side  of  Church  Street  from  Broad 
"  Street,  opposite  to  Col.  Brewtons  *  which  was  saved  with 
"  the  greatest  diligence,  by  blowing  up  several  houses, 
"  which  put  a  stop  to  the  fire  about  8  o'clock,  at  night, 
"  The  wind  blowing  pretty  fresh  at  North  West,  carried 
"  the  flakes  of  fire  so  far,  and  by  that  means  set  houses  on 
"  fire  at  such  a  distance,  that  it  was  not  possible  to  prevent 
"  the  spreading  of  it,     On  this  unfortunate  occurrence  the 


*Fraserinhis  "Reminiscences  of  Charlestown,"  published  in  1854,  de- 
signated Col.  Brewton's  as  the  "old  brick  house  on  the  West  side  of  Church 
Street,  two  doors  South  of  the  corner  of  Tradd  Street."  The  Provincial  As- 
sembly had  been,  formerly,  accommodated  there  by  Col.  Miles  Brewton, 
whose  residence  it  was  at  that  time. 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  17 

"  assistance  given  by  the  Commanders  of  His  Majesty's 
"ships  was  very  considerable,  in  pulling  down  and  blow- 
"  ing  up  houses,  and  particularly  by  extinguishing  the  fire 
"  in  Granville's  Bastion  *  where  part  of  the  platform  was 
"  consumed,  and  some  of  the  gun  carriages.  The  militia 
"  was  ordered  under  arms,  and  proper  guards  placed  in 
"  several  parts  of  the  Town,  to  prevent  the  embezzling  of 
"  any  of  the  sufferers'  goods,f  which  were  saved  from  the 
"  flames.  There  was  a  detachment  from  each  of  His  Ma- 
jesty's ships  Phcenix,  Tartar  and  Spence  on  shore  ;  and  a 
"  party  of  twenty  troopers  patrolled  all  night  up  to  the 
"  Quarter  House,  and  around  the  Town." 

The  next  edition  of  this  paper,  which  appeared  the  week 
following,  from  November  27th  to  December  4th,  1740,  was 
almost  entirely  taken  up  with  notices  of  removals  and  arti- 
cles lost  the  night  of  the  fire,  one  of  the  latter  description 
is  here  appended  : 

"William  Wright,  gold  and  silver-smith,  is  removed 
"to  John's  Island,  and  continues  to  carry  on  his  business, 
"  where  gentlemen  can  be  supplied  with  all  sorts  of  work  as 
"  usual  ;  his  case  will  shortly  be  furnished  with  sundries, 
"  and  kept  by  Mr.  Eleazer  Phillips,  post  master,  on 
'■  Madam  Trott's  WnarfT.  The  said  Wright,  lost  at  the 
"-fire,  out  of  his  pocket,  a  long  piece  of  gold,  near  a  foot  in 
"  length,  and  the  breadth  of  a  gold  button.  Whoever 
"shall  find  the  same,  and  bring  it  to  Eleazer  Phillips, 

*  Granville  Bastion  was  where  the  last  building  on  the  East  side  of  East 
Bay  now  is. 

f  The  copy  of  a  letter  written  just  after  the  fire  by  Robert  Pringle,  Judge 
of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  which  his  descendant,  Judge  W.  Alston 
Pringle  has  kindly  permitted  the  author  to  see,  states  that  "the  loss  in  mer- 
chandize of  all  description  was  computed  at  two  hundred  thousand  pounds 
sterling.  Two-thirds  of  the  Town,"  this  letter  adds,  "  was  destroyed  in  four 
hours  of  time ;  besides  a  great  number  of  stores,  there  were  consumed  3(mj 
dwelling  houses,  and  had  the  fire  occurred  at  night,  at  the  same  hour  it  did 
in  the  day,  a  great  number  of  lives  might  have  been  lost,  and  most  of  the 
shipping  might  have  likewise  been  destroyed." 


18  THE   NEWSPAPEE   TRESS 

"  shrill  have  three  pounds  reward,  paid  by  said  Wright  or 
'•  Phillips." 

This  announcement  from  the  post  master,  also  appeared  : 
"  This  is  to  give  notice  that  the  post  office  is  now  kept  at 
"the  house  where  Mr.  Prioleau's  scales  are,  on  Madam 
"Trott's  Wharff,  by  Eleazer  Phillips." 

The  account  of  the  fire  of  1740,  is  by  no  means  uninter- 
esting. It  cannot  either  be  regarded  as  foreign  to  the  sub- 
ject matter,  as  it  is  from  newspapers,  the  medium  of  news 
and  correspondence,  that  the  information  has  been  gathered. 
It  has  occurred  to  the  author,  that  continuing  to  men- 
tion, in  their  appropriate  places,  the  principal  fires  which 
have  happened  in  Charleston,  will  prove  interesting  and 
instructive.  He  is  the  more  readily  induced  to  this  belief 
from  the  fact  that,  neglected  as  our  State  history  has  been, 
that  of  our  City — which  was  for  a  length  of  time  her 
capital,  and  chief  resort,  and  is  still  her  commercial  me- 
tropolis— has  received  even  less  attention. 

Elizabeth,  the  widow  of  Lewis  Timothy,  carried  on 
the  Gazette.  In  the  issue  of  the  paper  which  followed 
the  death  of  her  husband,  she  makes  this  appeal  to  the  pa- 
trons and  the  public,  over  her  signature :  "  I  take  this 
"opportunity  of  informing  the  publick,  that  I  shall  con- 
"tinue  the  paper  as  usual;  and  hope,  by  the  assistance 
"  of  my  friends,  to  make  it  as  entertaining  and  correct  as 
"  may  reasonably  be  expected.  Wherefore,  I  flatter  myself 
"  that  all  those  persons,  who  by  subscription,  or  otherwise, 
"assisted  my  late  husband  in  the  prosecution  of  the  said 
"  undertaking,  will  be  kindly  pleased  to  continue  their  fa- 
"  vors  and  good  offices  to  his  poor  afflicted  widow,  and  six 
"  small  children,  and  another  hourly  expected," 

She  was  ^succeeded,  in  1757,  by  her  son,  Peter  Timo- 
thy, and  his  name,  as  publisher,  appeared  under  the  title 
of  his  paper.     It  was  the  first  instance  known  in  newspa- 


OF    CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  19 

per   publication.     Previously,  the  publisher's   name   was 
always  placed  at  the  bottom  of  the  fourth  page. 

In  connection  with  his  younger  brother.  Charles.  Peter 
continued  to  publish  the  paper  "on  the  Bay,  opposite  the 
upper  market ;"  (now  Vendue  Range)  afterwards,  at  the 
corner  of  King  and  Tradd  Streets,  under  the  firm  of  Tim- 
othy &  Bro.,  which  lasted  until  the  fall  of  "  Charlestown," 
in  May,  1780.  Under  their  proprietorship,  the  paper  was 
called  the  Gazette  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina.  Peter 
Timothy  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  British,  after  the  fall 
of  "  Charlestown." 

In  The  South  Carolina  Gazette  of  the  30th  March,  1746, 
there  appeared  the  appended  presentment  of  the  Grand  Ju- 
ry of  the  Province,  made  at  "  a  Court  of  General  Sessions  of 
"  the  Peace,  Oyer  and  Terminer,  Assign  and  General  Goal 
"  Delivery."  It  began  and  was  "  holden  at  Charlestown,  the 
"  18th  day  of  March,  Anno  Domini  1746,  before  the  Hon- 
"orable  Thomas  Dale,  William  Bull,  jr.,  and  John 
"  Lining,  Esquires,  Assistant  Judges  of  our  Lord  the 
"  King,  as  a  grievance,  did  present  Printer  Timothy,  prin- 
ter of  the  paper  called  the  South  Carolina  Gazette,  for 
"  having  printed  and  published,  in  the  aforesaid  Gazette, 
"No.  666,  a  letter  signed  R.  A.,  and  in  No.  669,  another 
"letter  signed  S.  T.,  containing  matter  of  falsehood,  and 
"  also  libellous,  and  a  great  scandal  and  reflection  upon  His 
"  Excellency  (James  Glen,)  the  Governor  of  this  Pro- 
"  vince,  and  tends  to  bring  his  authority  into  contempt ; 
"and,  therefore,  we  request  the  Honorable  Court  to  give 
"  proper  directions  for  punishing  the  author,  printer  and 
"  publisher  of  the  said  two  letters  ;  which  we  apprehend  to 
"  be  destructive  to  the  liberty  of  the  press,  a  privilege  we 
"enjoy,  and  which  has  been  so  justly  contended  for,  by  our 
"  ancestors,  and  we  hope  will  be  preserved  to  our  latest 
"posterity."     The  presentment  of  this  Jury,  over  which 


20  THE    NEWSPAPEB   TRESS. 

Gabriel  Manigault,  Esquire,  was  Foreman,  is  worthy 
of  the  Bpace  here  accorded  to  it. 

The  article  in  No.  666,  signed  "  R.  A.,"  and  referred  to 
by  this  presentmeni  as  a  LTievance,  was  a  protest  by  the 
writer,  to  the  pious  proposal  of  Governor  Glen  to  pre- 
vent, as  much  as  possible,  the  profanation  of  the  Lord's 
1  lay,  by  stopping  the  sale  of  "  merchandize,  meats,  fish  and 
herbage." 

"  T.  S.,"  the  author  of  the  other  article  in  No.  669,  pre- 
sented by  the  jury,  objected  to,  and  disputed  the  right  of 
His  Excellency's  placing  sentinels  at  the  Town  gates  every 
Sunday,  to  prevent  the  violation  of  the  Sabbath,  and  pro- 
hibit idle  persons  from  going  "a  pleasuring"  on  that  day. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE  GAZETTE  AND  COUNTRY  JOURNAL — CHARLES  AND  MARY 

CROUCH "THE  EXCHANGE   AND  CUSTOM  HOUSE,"  1767 

PETER    AND    JOHN    HORLBECK,  BUILDERS SECOND   DISAS- 
TROUS    FIRE,     1778 — SOUTH     CAROLINA     AND     AMERICAN 

GENERAL     GAZETTE — ROYAL     GAZETTE,     1781-82 JOHN 

MILLER    PUBLISHES  SOUTH  CAROLINA  GAZETTE  AND  GEN- 
ERAL ADVERTISER APPOINTED    PRINTER   TO  THE    STATE, 

BY  OUR    DELEGATION    IN    CONGRESS — CONCLUSION  OF  THE 
WAR    OF    INDEPENDENCE — MILLER    PUBLISHES    OFFICIAL 

ACCOUNT — THOMAS  HALL,  POST  MASTER THE  PRIMITIVE 

MAIL  CARRIERS — RECORD  OF  POST  MASTERS. 

In  December,  1765,  The  South  Carolina  Gazette  and 
Country  Journal  was  published  in  Bedon's  Alley,  by 
Charles  Crouch,  a  sound  whig.  He  published  it  until 
1772  ;  then  it  was  continued  by  his  widow,  Mary  Crouch, 
until  1775. 

Charles  Crouch,  the  publisher  of  The  South  Carolina 
Gazette  and  Country  Journal,  was  an  apprentice  to  Peter 
Timothy.  He  died,  1772,  leaving  two  sons,  W.  H.  and 
Abraham  Crouch.  Charles  Crouch,  the  publisher,  was 
the  paternal  grandfather  of  Mr.  Charles  W.  Crouch,  an 
old  resident  of  this  City.  The  title  of  the  paper  was  chang- 
ed, subsequently,  to  South  Ca7,olina  and  American  General 
Gazette,  and  published  by  Robert  Wells,  at  the  "  Old 
Printing  House."  Robert  AVells  was  a  staunch  royalist. 
Robert  Wells  &  Son  were,  afterwards,  publishers  of  this 
paper,  at  No.  71  Tradd  Street.     Its  motto  was  from  Hor- 


22  THE    NEWSPAPER  PRESS 

ACE,  "  Nullius  adictus  jurare  in  verba  magistri"  This 
firm,  "Printers  to  the  King's  Most  Excellent  Majesty," 
published  the  Royal  Gazette,  from  March  3d,  1781,  to  the 
close  of  1782.  Both  father  and  son  became,  at  a  succeed- 
ing time,  publishers  of  the  Nassau  (New  Providence) 
Gazette. 

Crouch's  Country  Journal,  in  its  number  of  the  29th 
October,  1767,  says:  "  At  a  full  meeting  of  the  Board  of 
"  Commissioners  for  building  the  new  '  Exchange  and  Cus- 
"  torn  House,'*  the  proposals  of  Messrs.  Peter  and  John 
"  Horlbeck,  were  preferred  ;  and  at  the  same  time  agreed 
"  with  for  finishing  the  same,  by  beginning  of  the  year 
11 1770,  for  forty  thousand  nine  hundred  and  sixty-six 
"  pounds  (currency  equal  to  5,848  sterling,  or  about  $26,- 
"000),  and  the  new  Watch-house,  already  began,  by  the 
"  1st  of  August  next,  by  Messrs.  Nailer  &  Brown,  for 
"  5,500  currency  ;  also  the  stone  bridge,  at  the  North  end 
"  of  the  Bay,  for  $3,300  currency." 

From  Crouch's  Country  Journal,  of  January,  1778,  is 
taken  this  account  of  the  second  disastrous  fire  in  "  Charles- 
town  :" 

"  On  Thursday,  15th  instant,  a  little  after  4  o'clock  in 
"  the  morning,  a  fire  was  discovered  in  the  bake-house  of 
"  one  Moore,  at  the  North  end  of  Union  Street.  The 
"alarm  being  immediately  given,  a  number  of  people,  with 
"  engines,  etc.,  assembled,  but  the   wind  blowing  fresh  at 


*  James  R.  Pringle,  then  Collector  of  the  Port,  by  appointment  of  Presi- 
dent Monroe,  in  1819,  in  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  the  merchants  of 
Charleston,  effected  an  arrangement  with  the  Government,  on  the  9th  No- 
vember, 1833,  by  which  the  appropriate  and  serviceable  cupola  was,  in  the 
winter  of  1835,  added  to  the  Exchange  building.  Mr.  Charles  Fraser,  the 
artist,  designed  this  cupola.    J.  H.  Seyle  and  Albert  Elfe  were  the  builders. 

The  Exchange  and  Custom  House  was  vacated  on  the  2d  of  June,  1843, 
for  necessary  repairs,  and  the  fixtures  removed  to  Faber's  building,  corner 
of  East  Bay  and  Fraser's  Wharf.  The  repairs  were  completed,  and  the 
building  re-occupied  21st  September,  1843. 


OF   CHARLESTON.   S.    C.  23 

11  N.E.,  drove  the  flames  with  an  impetuosity  that  could  not 
"be  checked.  The  fire  was  so  rapid  in  its  progress,  that 
"before  twelve  o'clock,  it  had  entirely  destroyed  all  Union 
"  Street,  the  South  side  of  Queen  Street  from  Mrs.  Doy- 
"  ley's  house  to  the  Bay,  greatest  part  of  Chalmers  Alley, 
rt  all  the  Bay,  excepting  fifteen  houses  from  Queen  Street 
"  to  Granville's  Bastion  ;  the  North  side  of  Broad  Street 
"  from  Mr.  Thomas  Smith's  house  to  the  Bay ;  the  South 
"  side  of  the  same  from  Mr.  Sawagen's  to  Mr.  Guerard's  ; 
"  all  Gadsden's  Alley,  Elliott  Street,  excepting  two  houses  ; 
"Bedon's  x\lley;  the  East  side  of  Church  Street  from 
"  Broad  Street  to  Stoll's  Alley,  excepting  five  tenements, 
"  and  the  whole  of  Tradd  Street  to  the  Eastward  of  Church 
"  Street.  The  crackling  of  the  flames,  the  dreadful  columns 
"  of  smoke,  bearing  with  them  myriad  of  fiery  flakes, 
"  which  fell  in  all  parts  of  the  Town,  lying  in  the  direction 
11  of  the  wind  ;  the  roar  of  explosions  ;  the  crash  of  falling 
"  houses  ;  the  shrieks  of  the  unhappy  sufferers  ;  the  horror 
"  painted  in  every  countenance  ;  the  confusion  apparent 
"  everywhere,  and  detecting  the  infamous  wretches  (and 
"  they  were  not  a  few),  who  availed  themselves  of  the  op- 
portunity to  pilfer,  altogether  formed  one  of  the  most 
"  dismal  scenes  of  woe  and  distress  that  can  possibly  be 
11  conceived.  Much  praise  is  due  to  the  officers  and  soldiers 
"  quartered  in  Town,  who  afforded  every  assistance  in  their 
"power  to  the  inhabitants,  and  it  was  chiefly  owing  to 
"  their  extraordinary  exertions,  that  the  houses  at  the 
"  South  end  of  the  Bay  were  preserved.  The  fire  did  not 
"proceed  any  further  after  twelve  o'clock  on  the  15th,  but 
"  it  is  not  yet  entirely  extinguished.  The  number  of 
"  dwelling  houses  destroyed,  exclusive  of  stores  and  out- 
"  houses  is  upwards  of  250.  The  quantity  of  merchandize 
"  and  furniture  is  very  considerable.  The  whole  loss  by 
"  the  most  moderate  computation  exceeds  three  millions  of 


24  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

"dollars.  Many  are  of  the  opinion  it  exceeds  a  million 
terling.  The  number  of  lives  lost,  is  not  great.  We 
"  Lave  not  heard  of  more  than  six,  some  of  whom  were 
"  negroes.  The  Charlestown  Library  Society's*  valua- 
"  ble  collection  of  books,  instruments,  and  apparatus  for 
"  astronomical  and  philosophical  observations  and  experi- 
"  merits,  etc.,  being  unfortunately  placed  in  a  house,  in  the 
11  neighborhood  of  that  in  which  the  fire  broke  out,  is  almost 
"  entirely  lost."f 

Public  notice  was  given  on  the  evening  of  the  15th  to 
all  those  that  were  at  a  loss  for  lodgings  and  victuals,  that 
both  were  provided  for  them  at  the  public  expense,  in  the 
several  public  buildings ;  and  on  the  16th,  the  General 
Assembly  voted  £20,000  for  the  immediate  relief  of  the 
sufferers.     The  State  of  Georgia  was  not  unmindful  of  suf- 


*Shecut  refers  to  this  Library  in  his  "  Medical  and  Philosophical  Essays." 
"It  was  founded,"  he  says,  "by  seventeen  gentlemen,  and  that  they  obtain- 
ed an  Act  of  Incorporation  in  the  year  1754."  He  adds,  "the  Library  was 
destroyed  17th  January,  1778." 

fThe  Journal  under  date  of  5th  February,  says:  "  We  have  been  informed 
that  the  fire  on  the  loth  of  January,  broke  out  in  a  kitchen,  hired  out  to 
some  negroes,  and  not  in  Moore's  bake-house.  We  were  mistaken  in  say- 
ing the  fire  did  not  spread  any  farther  after  12  o'clock,  on  the  15th,  as  Major 
Beekman's  house,  which  was  the  last  that  took  fire,  was  not  in  names  until 
4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon." 

Elkanah  Watson,  in  his  Memoirs,  abridged  and  published  by  his  son,  W. 
0.  Watson,  in  1850,  in  a  volume  entitled  "Men  and  Times  of  the  Revolution," 
chapter  iv,  pages  44-45,  makes  mention  of  this  conflagration.  "  I  had  passed 
the  eveniDg  of  the  15th  January,  '78,"  he  says,  "  with  a  brilliant  party,  at  the 
splendid  mansion  of  a  wealthy  merchant  of  the  City.  In  two  hours  after 
we  had  left  the  scene  of  elegant  refinement,  the  stately  edifice,  the  rich 
furniture,  and  all  its  gorgeous  appliances,  were  wrapped  in  flames.  In  the 
mid  hours  of  a  cold  and  tempestuous  night,  I  was  aroused  by  the  cry  of  fire, 
and  by  a  loud  knocking  at  the  door,  with  the  appalling  intelligence — The 
Town  is  in  flumes.  I  pressed  forward  to  the  theatre  of  one  of  the  most 
terriftic  conflagrations  that  ever  visited  Charlestown.  The  devastation  was 
frightful.  The  fire  raged  with  unmitigated  fury  for  seventeen  hours. 
Every  vessel,  shallop,  and  negro  boat  was  crowded  with  the  distressed  in- 
habitants. Many  who,  a  few  hours  before,  retired  to  their  beds  in  affluence, 
weie  now  reduced,  by  the  all-devouring  element,  to  indigence. 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  25 

fering  "  Chariest  own."     Their  Assembly  generously  voted 
$10,000  to  relieve  the  distressed. 

In  March,  1783,  The  South  Carolina  Gazette  and  Gen- 
eral Advertiser  began  an  irregular  publication,  then  semi- 
weekly,  at  94  Church  Street.  It  was  conducted  by  John 
Miller,  a  public  Printer,  who  came  from  London,  Eng- 
land. He,  in  his  proemial,  alluded  to  his  arrival  in  Phila- 
delphia from  the  "  Mother  Country,"  in  January,  1783, 
just  after  the  news  of  the  evacuation  of  "  Charlestown" 
had  been  received  there.  That  evacuation  took  place  on 
the  14th  of  December,  1782,  now  eighty-eight  years  ago. 
Mr.  Miller  made  mention  of  the  fact  of  his  having  been 
sent  to  "Charlestown"  by  the  Honorable  Delegation  in 
Congress,  to  be  Printer  to  the  State.  Our  delegation,  at 
that  time,  consisted  of  Edward  Putledge,  Thomas  Hey- 
ward,  Thomas  Lynch  and  Arthur  Middleton.  Mr. 
Miller  closed  his  prefatory  address  to  the  people,  among 
whom  he  came,  thus  :  "  My  ambition  could  not  have  been 
11  more  truly  gratified  than  finding  myself  the  Printer  of 
"the  Commonwealth  of  South  Carolina."     His  paper  was, 


"  After  laboring  at  the  fire  for  many  hours,  I  returned  to  my  quarters,  to 
obtain  a  brief  respite.  I  had  scarcely  seated  myself,  before  a  man  rushed 
in,  exclaiming — 'Your  roof  is  on  fire!'  The  mass  of  the  conflagration  was 
afar  off,  but  it,  as  it  were,  rained  fire.  When  we  had  extinguished  the  fire 
on  the  roof,  I  thought  it  time  to  remove  my  trunk,  containing  funds  to  a 
large  amount.  Not  being  able  to  obtain  assistance,  I  was  constrained  to 
shoulder  it  myself.  Staggering  under  my  load,  (a  burden  which  in  ordinary 
times  I  could  scarcely  have  lifted,)  I  proceeded  along  Main  Street.  The 
fire  had  extended  far  and  wide,  and  was  bearing  down  in  awful  majesty,  a 
sea  of  flame.  Almost  the  whole  of  the  spacious  street  exhibited  on  one 
side,  a  continuous  and  glaring  blaze.  My  heart  sickened  at  beholding  half- 
dressed  matrons,  delicate  young  ladies,  and  children,  wandering  about  un- 
protected, and  in  despair."' 

Elkanah  Watson,  in  continuing  his  account  of  the  fire,  speaks  of  his  having 
been  prostrated  on  the  ground  alongside  of  his  trunk,  by  the  blowing  up  of 
a  large  building.  His  description  of  his  hastening  on,  until  he  reached  an 
elegant  house  (Governor  Rutledge's),  in  the  suburbs  of  the  City,  and  there 
depositing  his  trunk,  and  his  final  recovery  of  it,  is  rather  amusing. 

3 


26  THE   NEWSPAPER  PRESS 

at  that  time,  printed  on  the  East  side  of  Church  Street, 
within  a  few  doors  of  Broad  Street. 

In  The  South  Carolina  Gazette  and  General  Advertiser, 
of  April  26th,  1783,  Mr.  Miller,  the  proprietor,  wrote  in 
this  wise  of  the  restoration  to  peace  :  "  Tuesday  last  was 
11  a  day  ever  to  be  remembered,  such  an  one  this  State 
"  never  before  enjoyed  ;  'twas  a  period  of  its  severe  distress, 
"  a  confirmation  of  its  Independence.  The  pleasing  coun- 
"  tenances  of  its  citizens  on  Monday,  were  truly  expressive 
11  of  the  pleasure  they  derived  from  receiving  the  official 
"  account  (published  in  the  Gazette  on  Sunday)  of  the 
"  conclusion  of  a  war,  begun  on  one  side  in  injustice,  car- 
"  ried  on  in  wickedness  and  folly  ;  and  opposed  on  the 
"  other  from  the  strictest  principle  of  self-defence,  the 
"maintenance  of  their  freedom  and  property." 

In  the  Gazette  of  the  29th  of  April,  1783,  Thomas 
Hall,  Clerk  of  the  Court,  Sheriff,  etc.,  announced  that  he 
had  just  been  appointed  Post  Master,  and  that  he  had 
"  opened  his  office,"  at  the  State  House,  from  "  whence  he 
"  will  send  a  rider  northwardly,  as  far  as  Falmouth,  in 
"  Calco  Bay,  every  Tuesday,  at  6  o'clock,  P.  M.  Also, 
"  one  for  Savannah,  every  Monday,  at  10  o'clock,  A.  M.  ; 
11  thence  he  is  to  return,  and  meet  the  northern  post  on 
"  Saturday." 

At  a  later  date,  appeared  this  announcement  from  the 
Post  Master:  "Post  Office,  Charleston,  Oct,  17,  1783. 
"The  Post  Master,  desirous  of  extending  the  utility  of 
11  his  office  in  a  general  manner,  at  the  request  of  many 
"  of  the  citizens,  will,  in  future,  receive  letters  for  Eu- 
"  rope,  or  any  other  part  of  the  world,  to  be  forwarded 
"  by  the  first  safe  and  convenient  opportunity ;  to  defray 
11  the  charge  of  bags,  etc.,  for  the  preservation  of  the 
"  letters,  the  small  and  customary  sum  of  one  penny,  with 
11  each  letter  will  be  requisite.     Monday  'and  Tuesday  of 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  27 

"  each  week,  are  the  proper  days  for  sending  letters  to  the 
11  post  office,  to  go  by  land." 

As  Isaiah  Thomas  has  told  us  that  Eleazer  Phillips 
was  the  "  first  Printer  to  His  Majesty,"  it  may,  therefore,  be 
safely  stated — strengthened  by  the  preceding  notice,  that 
after  the  night  of  the  fire  of  the  18th  of  November,  1740, 
Phillips  had  removed  from  Church  Street  to  Madam 
Trott's  "Wharff — that  he  was  the  first  Post  Master. 

We  will  here  trace  the  appointments  of  post  masters  to 
the  present  incumbent. 

Phillips  was  succeeded  by  George  Roupell.  who  had 
the  office  in  Tradd  Street.  Roupell  was  succeeded  by 
Peter  Bounetheau,  who  received  his  commission  from 
Benjamin  Franklin,  then  Post  Master  General  of  the 
United  Colonies.  His  warrant*  is  dated  10th  of  May, 
1777.  Thomas  Hall,  Bounetheau's  successor,  whom 
the  Gazette  of  the  29th  April,  1783,  announced  had  just 
been  appointed  Post  Master,  was  succeeded  by  Thomas  W. 
Bacot.  who  at  the  close  of  the  year  1791.  was  appointed  by 
Timothy  Pickering,  then  Post  Master  General,  under  the 
Administration  of  President  George  Washington.  The 
22nd  of  April,  1812,  Mr.  Bacot  moved  the  office  from  52 
Tradd  Street  to  84  Broad  Street,  north  side,  a  few  doors 
west  of  the  Court  House.  It  was  opened  there  the  fol- 
lowing day.  "  By  direction  of  the  Post  Master  General," 
the  same  authority  says,  "  it  was  removed  in  May,  1815, 
to  the  Exchange  building."f 

Our  highly  esteemed  and  valued  fellow-citizen,  Honorable 

*  This  warrant  of  Peter  Bounetheau  is  now  in  the  possession  of  his  son, 
H.  B.  Bounetheau,  of  Charleston. 

f  That  structure,  the  present  "  old  post  office,"  was  then  an  open  arched 
vestibule.  The  building  was  the  property  of  the  City.  It  was,  subsequent- 
ly, bartered  to  the  United  States  government,  the  City  taking  in  exchange 
the  present  "  City  Hall,"  and  giving  a  bonus  of  $2,000  to  the  government  for 
the  purpose  of  fitting  up  the  post  office, 


28  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS. 

Alfred  Huger,  was  in  turn  appointed  Post  Master,  by- 
President  Andrew  Jackson,  and  be  entered  upon  the 
duties  of  his  office  on  the  1st  of  January,  1835.  After  the 
capture  of  the  City,  by  the  United  States  forces — 18th  of 
February,  1865 — Mr.  A.  M.  Markland,  a  special  Agent 
of  the  Government,  took  charge  on  the  22nd,  and  acted  as 
Post  Master,  at  the  South  West  corner  of  King  and  George 
Streets ;  this  was  pending  the  arrival  of  Stanley  G.  Trott. 
Mr.  Trott  became,  by  appointment,  in  April,  1867,  the 
seventh  Post  Master  this  City  has  known,  and  the  third 
since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution.  This  latter  ap- 
pointment has  given  entire  satisfaction. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

CHARLESTON  INCORPORATED — THIRTEEN  WAEDS  CREA- 
TED— FIRST  WARDENS — REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE  PAR- 
ISHES   OF    ST.  PHILIP  AND  ST.    MICHAEL — FIRST  INTEND- 

ant — elections  endorsed  by  the  press — the  bells 
of  st.  Michael's  church — the  first  circulating  li- 
brary, 1783 JOHN  MILLER HIS  WEEKLY  MESSEN- 
GER— DEATH  OF  JOHN  MILLER — COLUMBIAN  HERALD  OR 
THE  PATRIOTIC  COURIER  OF  NORTH  AMERICA — OTHER 
PAPERS  AND  THEIR  EDITORS — THIRD  AND  FOURTH  DIS- 
ASTROUS FIRES,  1796  AND  1800. 

On  the  13th  of  August,  1783,  there  was  published  in 
the  Gazette  the  act  incorporating  Charleston.  The  seal  of 
the  City  was  adopted  by  the  proprietor  of  the  paper  as  a 
vignette.  The  obverse  was  at  the  head  of  the  paper  on 
one  side,  while  the  reverse  was  placed  on  the  other.  The 
title  of  the  journal,  set  as  it  was  in  three  different  de- 
scriptions of  type,  old  style  double  pica,  pica  capitals  and 
double  small  pica  italics,  occupied  the  space  between  the 
obverse  and  reverse  of  the  seal.  The  Act  of  Incorpora- 
tion, provided  that  "  Charlestown"  should  hereafter  be 
called  and  known  by  the  name  of  "  the  City  of  Charles- 
ton," and  should  be  divided  into  the  following  Wards  :* 


*The  City  is  now  divided  into  eight  wards,  and  sixteen  precincts.  The 
intersection  of  Meeting  and  Queen  Streets,  forming  the  internal  boundary 
of  the  lower  four  ones,  and  what  may  appear  a  little  curious,  if  a  person 
were  to  stand  on  the  central  point  of  said  intersection,  he  might  be  said  to 
have  a  footing  on  all  of  the  four,  or  lower  wards,  at  once. 


30  TITE    NEWSPAPER    PRESS 

"No.  1.  From  Wilkin's  Fort,  East  side  of  Church 
"Street,  to  the  South  side  of  Tradd  Street,  easterly  to  the 
'•  Bay, 

"No.  2.  From  the  North  side  of  Tradd  Street,  to  the 
""South  Bide  of  Queen  Street,  easterly. 

"No.  3.  From  the  North  side  of  Queen  Street,  to  the 
"South  Bide  of  Ellery  Street,  (now  Pinckney)  easterly. 

"  No.  4.  From  the  North  side  of  Ellery  Street,  up  to 
'  Meeting  Street,  and  along  the  same  to  the  West  end  of 
•••Muvn  Street,  through  Anson  Street  to  Boundary  (now 
"Calhoun)  Street,  easterly. 

"  No.  5.  From  the  South  end  of  King  Street,  to  the 
"  South  side  of  Tradd  Street,  easterly,  to  Church  Street. 

"  No.  G.  From  Tradd  Street,  along  King  Street,  to  the 
"  South  side  of  Broad  Street,  easterly. 

"  No.  7.  From  North  side  of  Broad  Street,  along  King 
"  Street,  to  the  South  side  of  Queen  Street,  easterly,  to 
"  Church  Street. 

"  No.  8.  From  the  North  side  of  Queen  Street,  along 
"  King  Street,  South  of  Hazell  Street,  easterly,  to  join  the 
"Ward  No.  8. 

"  No.  9.  From  Hazell  Street,  along  King  Street,  to 
"  Boundary  Street,  and  to  join  the  Ward  No.  4,  easterly. 

"  No.  10.  From  the  South  end  of  Legare  Street,  includ- 
"  ing  the  West  end  of  Tradd  Street,  easterly,  to  King 
"  Street. 

"  No.  11.  From  the  North  side  of  Tradd  Street,  to  the 
"  West  end  of  Broad  Street,  easterly,  to  King  Street. 

"  No.  12.  From  the  North  side  of  Broad  Street,  to  the 
"West  end  of  Ellery  Street,  easterly,  to  King  Street. 

"  No.  13.  From  the  North  side  of  Ellery  Street,  West  to 
"  Boundary  Street,  easterly,  to  King  Street. 

"And  it  is  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid, 
"  That  the  Church  Wardens  of  the  Parishes  of  St.  Philip 


OF    CHARLESTON.    S.    C. 


31 


"  and  St.  Michael  shall  within  one  month  after  passing  this 
"  act,  give  ten  days  public   notice  that  Wardens  are  to  be 
"  chosen  for  each  Ward,  whose  qualifications  shall  be  the 
"  same  as  that  for  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
"  tives  ;  and  that   all  free  white  persons  residing  in  each 
•■  Ward,  being  citizens  of  this  State,  who  were  taxed  three 
"  shillings  sterling,  the  preceding  year,  or  are  taxed  three 
"  shillings  sterling  in  the  present  year,  towards  the  support 
"of  the  government  of  this  State,  shall  be  entitled  to  vote 
"  for  a  Warden  for  their  respective  Ward  :  and  they  shall 
::  also  notify  the  time  and  place,  when  and  where,  the  elec- 
"  tion  is  to  be  held  in  each  Ward,  and  appoint  proper  per- 
"  sons  for  managing  and    conducting  the  same ;  and  the 
"  said  persons  after  the  election  is  ended,  shall  make  a 
':  return  to  the   Church' Wardens  of   the  persons  chosen 
"  Wardens  of  the  respective  Wards  ;  and  the  said  Church 
11  Wardens  shall  give  notice  to  the  several  persons  of  their 
"  appointment  respectively,  and   summon   them   to   meet 
"together  at  any  time   and  place,  within  ten  days  after 
"  their  election,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  the  oath  of  qual- 
ification,  allegiance,  and  office,  prescribed  by   the  law, 
"which  oath  may  be  administered  by  any  one  Warden  to 
"  the  other.     Provided,  seven  shall  be  present  at  the  tim8 
"  of  administering  of  the  same. 

"  In  pursuance  of  the  above  act,  we,  the  subscribers, 
"  Church  Wardens  of  the  Parishes  of  Saint  Philip  and 
"  Saint  Michael,  give  this  public  notice,  that  Monday,  the 
"  first  day  of  September  next,  is  fixed  for  the  holding  of 
"  the  said  election,  from  ten  to  twelve  o'clock  in  the  fore- 
"  noon,  and  from  two  to  four  in  the  afternoon;  and  the 
"  following  gentlemen  are  hereby  appointed  to  superintend 
"  the  same,  viz.  : 

"Ward  No.  1.  John  Cox,  No.  46,  corner  of  Lynch's 
"Lane. 


32  TIIE   NEWSPAPER  PRESS 

"Ward  No.  2.  Samuel  Legare,  No.  26  i  Church  Street. 

"  Ward  No.  3.  Sims  White,  at  St.  Philip's  Church. 

"  Ward  No.  4.  Colonel  Lusiiington,  at  No.  3  Hazell 
"  Street. 

"  Ward  No.  5.  Edward  Ligiitwood,  at  the  Scotch  Pres- 
"  byterian  Church. 

11  Ward  No.  6.  Benjamin  Villepontoux,  at  his  house, 
"  No.  77,  corner  of  Tradd  and  King  Streets. 

11  Ward  No.  7.  Thomas  Eveleigh,  at  No.  3,  behind  the 
"  State  House. 

"Ward  No.  8.  Hugh  Swinton,  at  his  house,  No. — ,  in 
"  Meeting  Street. 

"  Ward  No.  9.  Thomas  Radcliffe,  jr.,  at  his  house,  No. 
"  1  George  Street. 

"  Ward  No.  10.  Isaac  Holmes,  No.  8  Legare  Street. 

"Ward  No.  11.  William  Price,  at  his  house,  No.  39 
"  Tradd  Street. 

"  Ward  No.  12.  Dr.  Tucker  Harris,  at  his  house,  No. 
"  147  King  Street. 

"Ward  No.  13.  Robert  Ladson,  at  his  house,  No.  4 
"Wentworth  Street, 

"  At  which  places  of  election  all  persons  duly  entitled  to 
"  vote  in  their  respective  Wards  are  desired  to  attend. 

"  James  Bentham, 
"  Lambert  Lance, 
"Church  Wardens  for  St.  Philip. 
"  Daniel  Hall, 
"  Phillip  Prioleau. 
"Church  Wardens  for  St.  Michael. 

"Charleston,  August  18,  1783." 

On  the  morning  of  Tuesday,  the  2nd  of  September, 
1783,  the  result  of  the  election  for  members  to  represent 
-the  Parishes  of  St.  Philip  and  St.  Michael,  in  the  General 
Assembly,  and  for  Wardens,  is  given. 


OF   CHARLESTON,   S.    C.  33 

11  Yesterday,  came  on  the  election  for  three  members  to 
"  represent  the  Parishes  of  St.  Philip  and  St.  Michael, 
"  when  at  the  close  of  the  ballots  this  day,  the  following 
"  gentlemen  were  declared  duly  elected  : 

"Hon.  W.  H.  G-ibbes,  Hon.  J.  F.  Grimke,  and  Thomas 
Shebrick. 

"  Yesterday,  came  on  in  the  different  Wards,  the  election 
11  for  Wardens  of  this  City,  when  the  following  gentlemen 
"  were  chosen  : 

"Ward  No.  1,  James  Neilson;  Ward  No.  2,  Thomas 
11  Bee  ;  Ward  Xo.  3,  A.  Alexander  ;  Ward  Xo.  4,  B. 
"  Beekman  ;  Ward  Xo.  5,  Joshua  Ward  ;  Ward  No.  6, 
11  Thomas  Heyward  ;  Ward  Xo.  7,  John  Mathews  ;  Ward 
"  No.  8,  George  Flagg  ;  Ward  Xo.  9,  Thomas  Radcliffe, 
"jr. :  Ward  Xo.  10,  Isaac  Holmes  ;  Ward  Xo.  11,  Richard 
"Hutson;  Ward  Xo.  12,  John  Waring;  Ward  Xo.  13," 
no  election.  The  two  candidates  who  stood  highest  in  this 
Ward  had  an  equal  number  of  votes.  To  supply  this  va- 
cancy consequent  by  a  tie  vote,  another  election  was  held 
on  the  2d  October,  following,  when  Robert  Ladson  re- 
ceived the  largest  number  of  votes. 

In  the  Gazette,  the  second  day  after  the  general  election, 
it  was  announced  that 

"  Pursuant  to  the  Act  of  the  General  Assembly  to  incor- 
"  porate  Charleston,  the  Wardens  duly  elected  and  qualified 
this  day,  agreeable  to  the  directions  of  the  said  act, 
"hereby  give  public  notice,  that  Thursday,  the  11th  day 
"  of  September,  instant,  is  fixed  upon  for  the  election  of  an 
"  Intendant  for  the  City,  from  among  the  Wardens ;  and 
"  that  all  persons  qualified  to  vote  for  Wardens  in  their 
"  respective  Wards,  will  be  entitled  to  vote  for  such  In- 
"  tendant.  That  the  election  will  be  held  under  the  Ex- 
"  change  of  the  said  City,  from  the  hours  of  nine  to  twelve 
"in  the  forenoon,  and   from  two  to  five  in  the  afternoon, 


34  TUE    NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

"  when  and  where  the  subscribers  will  attend  to  manage 
'•  the  Barn©, 

"  James  Bentiiam, 
"  Lambert  Lance, 
"Phillip  Prioleau, 
"  Daniel  Hall. 
"  Thursday,  came  on  the  election  of  Intendant  for  this 
"  City,  agreeable  to  the  Act  of  Incorporation,  when  Ricii- 
"ard    IIutson,    Esq.,   was  chosen.     After   the   election, 
"  Messrs.  Bentiiam,  Lance,  Hall   and   Prioleau,   the 
"  returning  officers,  waited   on   Mr.  Hutson,  to  acquaint 
"  him  of  the  issue  of  the  election,  and  although  he  had  in 
"  the  most  pressing  manner  requested  the  citizens  not  to 
"  vote  for   him,  it  cannot  be  mentioned  too  much  to  his 
"  honor,  that   on    finding  the  voice   of  his  fellow-citizens 
"  had  declared  him  their  Intendant,  he  instantly  gave  up 
"his  own  private  wishes,  and  cheerfully  accepted  the  bur- 
"  then  they  had  laid  upon  him.     After  which,  he   wTent 
•'  with  the  above  gentlemen  to  Mr.  McCrady's,  where  an 
"  elegant  entertainment  was  provided,  and  where  the  citi- 
"  zens,  on  this  novel  and  pleasing  occasion,  had  the  happi- 
ness to  congratulate  the  Intendant  on  his  election." 

The  editor  of  the  Gazette,  in  alluding  to  the  election, 
remarked,  that  "  a  private  station  is  not  the  post  of  honor  ; 
"  yet,  in  the  present  instance,  happy  may  those  gentlemen 
"  be  said  to  be,  on  whom  the  election  did  not  fall.  In  the 
"  first  year  of  Incorporation,  the  office  of  Intendant  will 
"  prove  a  most  arduous  and  laborious  task.  Though  it  has 
"  been  forced  on  Mr.  Hutson,  yet  the  public  are  satisfied 
"  they  shall  not  be  disappointed  of  his  every  exertion  to 
"contribute  to  their  peace  and  happiness  by  the  full  exer- 
"  cise  of  his  great  abilities,  and  integrity  in  accomplishing 
"  the  great  objects  of  regulation  and  reform,  pointed  out 
"  by  the  Incorporation  Act." 


OF   CHARLESTON,   S.    C.  35 

11  This  is  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  Charleston  ;  may  it 
'  be  propitious  to  its  rising  glory,  increasing  commerce, 
'  and  growing  opulence ;  and  on  this  occasion  we  could 
'  wish  to  do  away  a  prejudice  (and  nothing  but  which  can 
'  prevent  its  becoming  the  first  City  in  America.)  enter- 
'tainedin  Europe  against  Charleston,  on  misinformation 
'  of  its  being  unhealthy.  The  printer  thinks  he  owes  it  to 
1  truth  to  declare,  that  so  far  from  finding  the  climate  of 
'  South  Carolina,  as  they  conceive,  unfavorable  to  any  Euro- 
'  pean  constitution,  he  has  not  had  an  hour's  illness  since  his 
'  arrival  in  this  State,  nor  does  he  remember  to  have 
1  enjoyed,  for  the  same  length  of  time,  such  an  uninter- 
'  rupted  state  of  health.  From  the  best  information,  we 
'  may  venture  to  say,  there  is  not  a  more  healthy  City  on 
'  the  continent." 

Intendant  Hutsox  served  until  the  14th  of  the  follow- 
ing September.     He  was  then  succeeded  by  Col.  Arxol- 

DUS  VaXDERHORST. 

On  Saturday  morning,  22d  November,  1783,  Mr.  Mil- 
ler published,  in  this  quaint  and  ambiguous  style,  the 
subjoined  information  : 

'•  Thursday  Morning,  10  o'clock. 

"  The  public  will  believe  Mr.  Miller  has  no  little 
"happiness  in  informing  them,  that  the  Lightning  may 
"  shortly  be  expected.  Off  Edisto,  the  second  mate  came 
"  on  shore,  from  whom  a  gentleman  learnt,  who  is  just 
"  arrived  in  Town,  that  she  brings  Mr.  M.  almost  as  many 
"children  as  she  brings  them  bells.  She  is  about  three 
"leagues  to  the  southward." 

These  bells  which  Mr.  Miller  alluded  to,  have  a  mem- 
orable record.  They  are  St.  Michael's  chime,  eight  in 
number,  and  were  purchased  in  England,  in  1761.  The 
ship  Little  Carpenter  brought  them  to  "  Charlestown," 
July  17,   1761.     Major  Traille,  of  the  Eoyal  Artillery, 


36  THE   NEWSPAPER  PRESS 

took  them  away  at  the  evacuation  of  December,  1782. 
They  were  sent  back  to  "  Charlestown"  in  the  Lightning, 
and  arrived  here  20th  November,  1783.  During  the  last 
war,  they  were  sent  to  Columbia,  and  were  destroyed  at 
the  sack  and  destruction  of  that  City,  in  February,  1864. 
The  fragments  were  sent  to  England  in  the  spring  of 
1866,  and  re-cast,  a  century  after,  by  decendants  of  the 
original  manufacturers.  They  were  landed  in  Charleston 
from  the  Norwegian  bark  Gladstone,  February  18,  1867, 
and  were  again  rung  March  21, 1867. 

About  the  close  of  the  year  1783,  Mr.  Miller  estab- 
lished, with  the  aid  of  several  prominent  gentlemen,  a 
Public  or  Circulating  Library.  "  This  was,"  as  he  said, 
11  with  a  view  of  supplying  the  present  scarcity  of  books, 
11  arising  from  the  devastation  made  in  gentlemen's  private 
"  libraries,  in  the  Gothic,  savage  and  wanton  wish  of  the 
"  British  Army,  to  exterminate  all  knowledge." 

John  Miller  sold  The  Gazette  and  Advertiser  to  Tim- 
othy &  Mason,  and  went  to  Pendleton,  in  this  State. 
There  he  published  Miller  s  Weekly  Messenger.  This 
journal  changed  hands,  and  was  known  for  many  years 
as  the  Pendleton  Messenger*  The  editor  and  publisher, 
John  Miller,  died  in  Pendleton,  in  1809,  and  was  buried 
at  the  "Old  Stone  Church." 

Between  1783,  the  year  in  which  the  act  incorporating 
Charleston  was  passed,  and  1795,  a  period  of  twelve  years, 
there  were  but  two  diurnal  publications  in  this  City. 
One  was  The  Columbian  Herald  or  Patriotic  Courier  of 
North   America,   published   by    Messrs.    Harrison   and 

*  The  rapid  increase  of  the  population  of  the  upper  portion  of  South  Car- 
olina must  have  been  the  inducement  for  Mr.  Miller  to  go  to  Pendleton. 
Ramsay  states,  that  in  the  two  new  western  districts,  now  called  Pendleton 
and  Greenville,  which  were  obtained  by  treaty  founded  on  conquest  from 
the  Cherokee  Indians,  in  1771,  filled  so  rapidly  with  inhabitants,  that  in  the 
year  1800,  they  alone  contained  upwards  of  30,000  souls. 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  37 

Bowen,  then  by  Thomas  Bartholemew  Bowen  and  J. 
Mabkland,  as  Bowen  and  Mabkland,  at  4  Queen  Street ; 
afterwards  (1784,)  it  was  published  at  15  Meeting  Street ; 
then,  removed  to  No.  92  Church  Street.  This  last  re- 
moval took  place  on  the  9th  of  May,  1795.  The  motto  of 
this  paper  was,  this  constituent  part  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  State  of  South  Carolina :  "  That  the  liberty  of  the 
press  is  inviolably  preserved."  The  Columbian  Herald 
had  a  bust  of  Washington  as  a  vignette. 

Mr.  Bowen  had  been  a  Lieutenant  in  the  British  Navy, 
possessed  fine  literary  taste,  and  was  once  the  publisher 
of  The  /South  Carolina,  Weekly  Messenger.  Prominent  as  a 
Mason,  he  was,  anterior  to  1800,  a  Grand  Officer  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  South  Carolina. 

The  other  paper  was  The  Charleston  Evening  Gazette, 
printed  by  J.  V.  Burd  and  R.  Haswell,  at  102  Broad 
Street.  The  Evening  Gazette  was,  afterwards,  printed  by 
J.  Y.  Burd,  at  24  East  Bay.  Joseph  Vincent  Burd 
died,  after  a  short  illness,  on  the  4th  of  October,  1785. 
He  was,  at  the  time,  editor  and  proprietor  of  The  George- 
town  Times. 

The  City  papers  were,  at  that  time,  unsatisfactory  as  to 
their  marine  reports.  The  arrival  and  departure  of  ves- 
sels, and  the  names  of  their  captains  alone  were  mention- 
ed. No  distinction  was  made  in  the  "  making  up"  be- 
tween that  which  was  written  and  that  which  was  selected. 
The  type,  too,  was  large,  and  inartistic. 

Subsequent  to  1783,  there  came  into  life  The  Charleston 
Horning  Tost,  printed  by  Childs,  Haswell  &  McIver. 
There  was,  also,  The  City  Gazette  and  Daily  Advertiser, 
printed  by  Markland  &  McIver,  "  Printers  to  the  City," 
at  47  East  Bay,  from  1789  to  1797.  This  paper,  of  the 
22nd  of  March,  1791,  contained  the  Act  to  Incorporate 


38  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

Camden,  ratified  19th  February,  1791.  Peter  Frenau 
and  Seth  Paine  published  it  from  1797  to  January,  1801. 
They  were  succeeded,  January  1,  1801,  by  John  McIver, 
who  was  at  one  time  associated  with  Messrs.  Childs  & 
Haswell,  as, before  mentioned.  Nothing  is  known  far- 
ther than  this  of  either  Childs  or  Haswell. 

John  McIver  died  May  7,  1801,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
this  City,  aged  37  years.  It  is  a  tribute  fully  due  the 
memory  of  this  gentleman  to  say,  that  to  a  cultivated  un- 
derstanding, he  added  a  most  benevolent  disposition.  At 
the  time  of  his  death  he  was  a  Senator  in  our  State  Legis- 
lature, from  the  united  districts  of  Darlington,  Marlboro' 
and  Chesterfield. 

The  most  alarming  fire,  since  that  of  1778,  occurred  13th 
June,  1796.  It  broke  out  in  Lodge  Alley,*  on  the  after- 
noon of  that  day.  "  It  baffled,"  says  the  account,  "  all  ex- 
"  ertions  of  a  numerous  concourse  of  citizens  who  speedily 
"  assembled  to  extinguish  the  devouring  flames,  till  Tues- 
11  day  morning,  when  a  considerable  part  of  the  City  was 
11  laid  in  ashes.  Every  house  in  Queen  Street,  from  the 
11  Bay  to  the  corner  of  Church  Street ;  all  Union  Street 
"continued;  two-thirds  of  Union  Street;  Church  Street 
"  from  Broad  Street  to  St.  Philip's  Church,  with  only  two 
11  exceptions  ;  Chalmers  and  Berresford's  Alley  ;  Kinloch's 
"  Court,  and  the  North  side  of  Broad  Street  from  the  State 
11  House  to  Mr.  Jack's,  four  doors  below  Church  Street, 
11  and  five  houses  on  the  Bay,  from  the  corner  of  Queen 
"  Street,  were  burnt  to  the  ground.  The  public  buildings 
"destroyed  are  the  French  Church,  and  several  adjoining 
11  buildings.  St.  Philip's  Church  was  on  fire  at  different 
11  times,  and  ultimately  must  have  been  destroyed,  if  a 

♦This  Alley  derived  its  name  from  the  fact  that  all  the  Masonic  Lodges 
once  held  their  Communications  in  a  building  located  in  it. 


OF   CHARLESTON,   S.   C.  39 

"spirited  negro  man*  had  not  ascended  to  the  top  of  the 
11  cupola,  next  to  the  vane,  and  torn  off  the  shingles.  The 
"  private  buildings  destroyed,  and  the  property  they  con- 
11  tained,  are  of  immense  amount.  Five  hundred  chimneys 
11  have  been  counted,  from  which  the  buildings  have  been 
"burnt;  and  £150,000  sterling  is  supposed  to  be  a  sum 
"  far  short  of  the  value  of  those  buildings.  The  goods  and 
11  furniture  destroyed,  are  probably  nearly  equal  to  this 
11  sum." 

B.  F.  Pritchard,  an  apprentice  to  W.  P.  Young,  Prin- 
ter and  Bookbinder,  was  blown  up  during  the  prevalence 
of  this  fire. 

The  City  Gazette  and  Daily  Advertiser,  in  its  issue  of 
Tuesday,  5th  August,  1800,  is  the  source  from  whence 
is  taken  the  account  of  another  fire,  four  years  after : 
11  Yesterday  forenoon,  between  the  hours  of  10  and  11 
11  o'clock,  a  fire  broke  out,  at  the  upper  end,  three  doors 
"  above  Boundary  Street,  on  the  West  side,  in  the  house  of 
"  Mr.  Martin  Miller,  which  destroyed  five  houses  on 
"  that  side  of  King  Street ;  and  before  its  progress  could 
"be  arrested,  eleven  on  the  East  side.     The  wind  being 


*  Gospel  Messenger,  vol.  xxiv,  chapter  xvii,  page  168, 1796 ;  August  14th — 
The  following  letter  of  General  C.  Gadsden  and  Col.  John  Huger,  was  laid 
before  the  Vestry  : 

"  Gentlemen — Agreeably  to  your  desire,  united  with  a  request  from  Major 
Charles  Lining  to  appraise  a  negro  man  at  present  his  property,  for  the  ex- 
press purpose  of  his  being  liberated,  and  as  a  reward  for  his  having  extin- 
guished the  flames  which  in  the  late  conflagration  on  the  13th  ultimo  nad 
been  communicated  to  St.  Philip's  Church,  but  by  his  uncommon  and  par- 
ticular exertion  at  the  awful  moment  that  venerable  building  was  preserved; 
and  having  seen  the  said  Will,  and  being  likewise  well  acquainted  with  his 
character  and  profession,  we  have  duly  considered  the  subject  referred  to 
us,  both  with  respect  to  his  qualifications  and  the  price  of  negroes  at  this 
juncture,  and  we  have  estimated  and  ascertained  the  value  of  the  said  Will, 
at  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  pounds." 

"Agreed  to,  Mr.  Lining  giving  £10." 

"The  fellow  being  called  and  informed  of  his  emancipation,  requested 
that  he  may  in  future  be  called  Will  Philip  Lining," 


40  THE   NEWSPAPEB   PEE 

at  South  West  drove  the  flames  from  the  City,  otherwise, 
in  all  probability,  the  destitution  would  have  been  much 
greater  than  it  is.  The  tobacco  inspection,  which  was  to 
leeward  of  the  flames,  caught  twice,  but  by  timely  ae 
ance  the  flame  was  extinguished.  We  understand  the 
fire  was  occasioned  by  Mr.  Miller's  attempting  to  stop 
a  leak  in  a  cask  of  brandy,  in  closing  which  a  candle  was 
held  too  near  the  liquor,  which  immediately  caught,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  communicated  to  some  gunpowder,  the 
explosion  of  which  put  the  house  in  flames.  We  are 
sorry  to  add  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  were  burned  in 
a  dreadful  manner.  The  life  of  Mrs.  Miller  was  des- 
pared  of  last  evening. 

"  The  principal  sufferers  by  this  calamity,  are  Mr.  Mil- 
ler and  Mrs.  Brunion,  Mr.  Willis,  Mr.  Turner,  Mr. 
Vaughan,  Mr.  Pelot,  and  Mrs.  Levin,  on  the  West 
side  ;  and  on  the  East  side  Mr.  McMillan,  who  lost 
three  houses,  and  his  large  range  of  stables.  Mr.  Grey, 
Mr.  Pressley,  Mr.  Simmons,  Mr.  Crawford,  Mrs.  Sin- 
gleton, Mr..  McCracken,  and  Messrs.  Walsh  &  Sons. 
Mr.  Samuel  Well's  house  was  pulled  down  to  prevent 
the  fire  from  spreading.  Notwithstanding  the  extreme 
heat  of  the  day,  the  citizens  repaired  to  the  spot  with 
the  greatest  alacrity,  and  afforded  their  assistance  writh  a 
cheerfulness  that  has  never  been  exceeded. 

"  The  consequences  of  the  destructive  fire  of  yesterday, 
are  chiefly  confined  to  that  class  of  citizens  whose  all 
was  exposed  to  the  ravages  of  that  destructive  element. 
It  is,  therefore,  to  be  hoped,  that  the  most  active  and 
influential  citizens,  agreeably  to  their  accustomed  human- 
ity, will,  on  this  afflicting  occasion,  come  forward,  and  by 
their  example  and  endeavors,  take  immediate  measures 
for  the  relief  of  the  unfortunate  sufferers.  It  is,  there- 
fore, respectfully  suggested,  that  a  meeting  of  the  inhabi- 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C  41 

"tanta  to-morrow  at  12  o'clock,  at  the  Exchange,  would  he 
'•'  calculated  to  carry  the  object  contemplated  into  iinme- 
"  diate  and  complete  effect." 

Previous  to  -June,  1783,  we  learn  from  the  Gazette,  fires 
were  extinguished  by  citizens  who  obtained  water  from  the 
City  pumps,  or  drew  it  from  wells  by  the  tedious  operation 
of  sinking  buckets.     In  June,  1784,  a  company  was  form- 
ed, called  "  Hand-in-Hand  Fire  Company."'     The  members 
of  this  company  were  not  only  required  to  hand  buckets  of 
water  one  to  another,  but  were  called  upon  to  rescue  from 
the  flames  the  private  property  of  the  individual  members 
of  their  association.    This  institution  had  its  use,  but  it  was 
far  short  of  that  philanthropic   and  general  organization 
into  which  the  interested  inhabitants  of  the  City  ought  to 
have  formed  themselves.     This  :i  Hand-in-Hand  Compa- 
ny," the  first  of  these  organizations  here,  and  the  nucleus 
of  our  present  efficient  fire  brigade,  was  governed  by  rules 
of    similar    companies   in    ^STew   York    and    Philadelphia. 
There  seemed  not  to  have  been  any  regular  formation  of 
engine  companies,  as  now  exist,  before  the  year  1786.    The 
following  advertisement  of  Pichaed  Humphreys,  jr.,  which 
was  publishdin  the  Gazette  of  January  24,  1786,  confirms 
the  foregoing  : 

"  The  subscriber  being  informed  that  a  number  of  gen- 
"  tlemen  of  this  City,  are  about  entering  into  that  useful 
"institution  of  fire  companies,  he  will  engage  to  supply 
"  them  with  any  number  of  buckets  they  shall  please  to 
11  order." 


CHAPTEE   V. 

CRIME  IN  1786 — THE  MURDER  OF  NICHOLAS  JOHN  WIGHT- 
MAN — MALES  AND  FEMALES  IMPLICATED — THEIR  CON- 
DEMNATION AND  EXECUTION — CAPRICIOUS  MARRIAGE  AN- 
NOUNCEMENT— TWO  TRAVELING  ALGERINES — RAMSAY'S 
HISTORY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA  OBNOXIOUS  TO  THE  BRITISH 
GOVERNMENT — "  SOUTH  CAROLINA  STATE  GAZETTE  AND 
TIMOTHY  AND  MASON'S  DAILY   ADVERTISER." 

Well  did  our  papers  here  display  the  times; 

Some  streak'd  with  follies ;  others,  stain'd  with  crimes. 

February  9,  1786. — A  reward  of  four  guineas  is  offered 
by  Andrew  Pleym,  through  the  paper  of  this  date  for  the 
perpetrator  of  a  robbery  at  his  store,  between  his  dwelling 
house,  106  Meeting  Street,  and  the  Smith's  forge,  at  the 
corner  of  Moor  Street,  (now  Cumberland  Street.) 

February  13,  1786. — In  this  edition   of  the   Gazette,  is 

the  obituary  of  Mr.  Mathew  Bayley,  who  died   "some- 

1  time  ago  at  Jones'  Creek,  a  branch  of  Peedee,  in  North 

1  Carolina,  aged  136  ;  he  was  baptized  when  134  years  old." 

"  On  the  night  of  16th  February,  1786,  at  a  quarter 
•  past  10  o'clock,  as  Mr.  Philip  Moses,  accompanied  by 
'  his  wife,  was  going  home,  two  tall  lusty  men,  dressed  in 
1  short  light  colored  clothes,  stopped  him  in  Broad  Street, 
'  at  the  corner  of  Gadsden's  Alley,  in  a  manner  that 
1  evinced  the  intention  to  rob  him.  Upon  his  making 
'  some  resistance,  one  of  the   ruffians   drew  a  pistol  and 


44  THE    NEWSPAPER    PRI 

"fired  at  him,  the  explosion  of  which  burned  hie  face; 
"  the  other  h- I'm \v  also  fired,  and  both  balls  lodged  in  the 

"  adjacent  house,  fortunately  without  any  mischief.  Ar- 
"  noldus  Vanderiiorst,  then  Intendant,  offered  a  reward 
"of  $1200,  on  the  morning  of  27th  February,  for  this 
"  attempt  to  rob  and  murder." 

March  16,  1786. — "  Two  persons  dressed  in  the  Moorish 
"  habit  are  now  in  this  City,  and  are  supposed  to  be  the 
"  same  men  that  were  taken  into  custody  in  Virginia,  on 
"  suspicion  of  their  being  Algerines.  The  singularity  of 
"  their  dress  induced  a  young  gentleman  of  the  law,  to  ask 
"  them  some  questions,  which  were  answered  with  so  much 
"impertinence  and  vulgarity,  that  the  gentleman  proceed- 
"  ed  to  give  one  of  the  fellows  a  little  manual  correction, 
"  by  way  of  reforming  his  manners.  A  mob  immediately 
"assembled,  and  the  men  were  taken  up;  being  carried 
"  to  the  home  of  a  lady  on  the  Bay,  who  understood  their 
"language,  they  appeared  to  be  two  men  of  the  Jewish 
"  nation,  who  had  landed  in  Virginia  from  Algiers,  and 
"had  travelled  over-land  from  that  State  to  this." 

May  22,  1786. — "  John  Gibbons  advertised  to  be  leased 
"  for  seven  years,  to  the  highest  bidder,  on  Tuesday,  the  6th 
"  day  of  June  next,  that  most  agreeably  situated  farm  at 
"  Haddrell's  Point,  commonly  called  Mt.  Pleasant,  con- 
"  taining  about  80  acres,  belonging  to  the  estate  of  Jacob 
"  Mott." 

May  25,  1786. — "  The  commissioners  appointed  by  the 
"  Legislature,  for  laying  out  the  Town  of  Columbia,  have 
"  appointed  the  first  sale  of  lots  to  take  place  on  the  2d 
"  September  next,  in  this  City."  The  records  of  the  State 
were  removed  from  Charleston  to  Columbia,  by  direction  of 
the  Legislature,  in  the  winter  of  1790. 

September  21,  1786. — "  We  learn  from  London,  that  the 
.  "  re-publication  of  Dr.  Ramsay's  History  of  South  Caro- 


OF   CHARLESTON,   S.    G.  45 

11  lina,  is  deemed  illegal  in  that  country,  on  account  of  the 
"  long  catalogue  of  British  villanies  and  murders  it  con- 
tains." 

The  pages  which  contained  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence, Drayton's  charge  against  the  King,  etc.,  and  many 
strong  accusations  against  Earl  Cornwallis,  Lord  Raw- 
don,  Brown,  Moncrief,  Tarlton,  Tuck,  etc.,  were  de- 
clared to  be  sufficient  grounds  for  an  expensive  and  vex- 
atious prosecution  from  the  crown  lawyers,  besides  expos- 
ing the  publisher  to  personal  violence,  from  the  parties  of 
their  zealous  votaries. 

June  19.  1796.—"  On  Thursday  last,  between  ten  and 
'  eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  a  fire  broke  out  in  a  soap 
'boiler's  shop  in  Gadsden's  Alley,  which  increased  with 
'the  greatest  rapidity  for  a  considerable  time,  and  seemed 
'  to  threaten  this  City  with  a  general  conflagration.  Fifteen 
'  capital  houses,  exclusive  of  a  number  of  back  buildings, 
1  were  reduced  to  ashes.  The  loss  in  houses  and  other  prop- 
'  ertv  is  very  great,  for  the  fire  was  so  versatile,  that  goods 
'  supposed  to  be  in  the  greatest  security,  were  obliged  to  be 
1  removed  about,  at  different  times,  in  the  utmost  haste,  con- 
'  sequently  they  were  much  damaged  ;  and  several  persons 
'  taking  advantage  of  the  confusion,  secreted  great  quanti- 
'  ties ;  some  that  were  detected  have  been  committed  to 
'  prison.  Some  supposing  themselves  secure,  did  not  move 
1  at  all,  and  lost  every  thing.  Mr.  Blakeley's  situation, 
•  at  this  time,  was  truly  unfortunate  as  distressing,  having, 
'  onlv  the  day  before,  finished  moving  the  whole  of  his  prop- 
'  erty,  the  chief  of  which,  owing  to  his  apparent  security, 
'  and  shifting  of  the  wind,  was  destroyed.  Mr.  James 
'  Strickland,  in  conducting  a  cart  heavily  loaded,  fell  out 
'  of  it,  and  the  wheels  went  over  his  breast,  which  occasion- 
'  ed  his  death  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours.  Several  per- 
'  sons  were  also  much  bruised  and  wounded." 


40  THE   NEWSPAPER  PRESS 

The  following  is  a  list  of  persons  who  were  burnt  out, 
as  given  by  the  Gazette,  viz. : 

Messrs.  William  Smith  &  Co.,  Messrs.  Wells  and 
Bethune,  Mr.  M'Credie,  Mr.  Gershon  Cohen,  Messrs. 
M'Auley  and  Davis,  Messrs.  Robert  and  Hall  Stew- 
art, Mr.  John  Aitkin,  Messrs.  Muirhead  and  Munro, 
and  Mr.  Abernethie,  Thomas  Smith,  Mr.  Samuel 
Blakeley,  Mr.  Henry  Main  Stromer — Mrs.  Gaultier, 
William  Logan,  Dr.  Robert  Wilson. 

On  the  morning  of  22d  June,  1786,  the  Gazette  was 
published  as  a  half-sheet.  The  publisher,  while  apologiz- 
ing for  it,  stated  that  it  was  in  consequence  of  the  death 
of  a  grand-son,  Master  Peter  Weston.  This  number  of 
the  paper  also  contained  a  special  notice  from  the  proprie- 
tor, to  this  end  :  "  To  prevent  a  misunderstanding,  adver- 
"  tisements  not  exceeding  twelve  lines  are  inserted  for  three 
"  shillings  the  first  publication,  and  two  shillings  each  con- 
"  tinuation." 

Most  prominent  in  the  criminal  record  at  that  time, 
was  the  murder  of  Mr.  Nicholas  John  Wightman, 
in  his  25th  year.  The  reader  can  see,  while  passing 
the  western  grave  yard  of  St.  Philip's  Church,  the  slab 
which  marks  the  spot  where  this  gentleman  was  buried. 
The  inscription  states  that  "  Divine  Providence  ordained  it 
11  so,  that  a  single  button  belonging  to  the  coat  of  the  mur- 
11  derer  served,  with  other  proof,  to  discover  and  convict 
"him."  The  account  of  the  deed  is  given  in  the  Gazette, 
March  17,  1788,  in  connection  with  a  highway  robbery 
which  took  place  the  same  night.  "  Last  Wednesday 
"  night,  between  the  hours  of  10  and  11  o'clock,  as  Captain 
"  Marston  was  returning  on  board  his  vessel,  lying  at 
"  Mey's  wharf,  he  was  stopped  near  the  Governor's  bridge, 
"  and  robbed  of  his  watch,  some  money,  etc.,  by  three  vil- 
"  lains,  one   of  whom   run  a  pistol   full   in  his   face,  and 


OF   CHARLESTON,   S.    C.  4< 

"  would,  in  all  probability,  have  taken  bis  life,  bad  not  an 
11  accomplice  prevented  it ;  after  which,  they  left  Captain 
"  Marston,  and  proceeded  towards  Meeting  Street,  where 
"  Mr.   Nicholas  John  Wightman   was,  soon  after,  shot 
"  through  the  heart,  supposed  by  one  of  the  same  party. 
11  Information  being  sent  to  the  guard-house,  Captain  Da- 
"  vis,  with  proper  assistance  proceeded  to  the   suspected 
"spot  where  the  murder  was  committed,  at  which  place 
"  Josiah   Jordan,  Eobert  Stacey,  John  George,  and 
11  others,  were  found,  and  taken  into  custody.    One  of  them, 
"  Edward  Hatcher,  who  being  duly  sworn,  made  oath 
"and  acknowledged,   that  last  evening,   near  11  o'clock, 
"  being  the  12th  day  of  March,  1788,  he,  in  company  with 
"  Robert  Stacey,  was  standing  at   the  door  of  Thomas 
"  Jones,  in  Meeting  Street,  (between  Market  and  Hayne 
"  Streets,)  when  a  man  walked  past,  and  after  he  had  gone 
"  about  three   doors   farther,   Robert   Stacey   followed, 
"  turned  right  before  him,  and  with  a  brass  barrel  pistol 
"  shot  him  in  the  left  breast,  on  which  he  fell  and  expired 
"  immediately.     Said  deponent  believes  that  Robert  Sta- 
"  cey  designed  to  rob  the  deceased,    but  was   prevented 
"  by  people  coming  out   with  a  light.     Hatcher  further 
"  states  that  Josiah  Jordan,  John  George,  Robert  Sta- 
"  cey,  Thomas  Smith,  Andrew  Keating,  Ann  Jones, 
"  Ann  Connelly,  Kate  Crowdy,  and  Rebecca  Stacey, 
"  were,  altogether,  in  said  house,  and  that  he  saw  Ann 
"  Connelly  deliver  out  to  the  said  Stacey,  powder  and 
"  ball — two  balls  and  three  swan  shot — and  directed  him  to 
"  go  out  and  rob  again,  and,   if  he  met  with  resistance,  to 
"  fire  on  them." 

In  additional  particulars,  published  on  the  20th,  the 
Gazette  returns  thanks  to  Dr.  Lynah,  the  physician  called 
in,  and  Captain  Davis,  of  the  guard.     Stacey,  Jordan, 


48  TIIE   NEWSPAPER  PR]. 

George,  Smith,  Hatcher,  and  Ann  Connelly  received 
sentence  of  death  for  the  murder  of  Mr.  WlGHTMAN. 

A  few  evenings  following  Mr.  Wigiitman's  murder, 
three  villains  went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Daniel  Ma- 
zyck,  at  Hampstead  ;  hut  one  of  them,  who  had  secreted 
himself  under  the  house,  receiving  a  violent  blow  with  a 
sword,  the  knaves  fled.  The  same  evening,  a  gang  of  ruf- 
fians attacked  a  gentleman  near  Pinckney  Street,  hut  he 
escaped  after  receiving  a  slight  wound  with  a  cutlass, 
inflicted  by  one  of  the  villains. 

To  the  marriage  of  Mr.  James  Hibben,  and  Miss  Sarah 
Wells,  which  appeared  in  the  issue  of  January  28,  1788, 
there  is  appended  these  strange  lines : 

"  Farewell,  my  friend,  but  record 
The  sufferings  of  your  dying  Lord! 
Let  neither  friends  nor  riches  prove 
The  total  loss  you  bore  for  love." 

On  the  morning  of  the  5th  February,  1788,  Mr.  Hibben, 
over  his  signature,  writes  to  the  publisher  : 

"  Please  insert  the  following,  in  answer  to  some  lines 
"which  appeared  in  your  Gazette  of  the  28th  January,  on 
"  the  morning  of  the  subscriber's  marriage,  and  oblige  your 
"humble  servant : 

li  Welcome,  my  friend,  you're  free'd  from  schism, 
From  canting,  whining  Methodism; 
You're  now  in  a  superior  class, 
Ne'er  heed  the  braying  of  an  ass." 

The  above,  as  well  as  the  succeeding  selections,  are  made 
chiefly  with  the  intent  to  show  the  style  then  adopted  of 
promulgating  sensational  news  ;  a  style  which  seems  less 
exceptionable  to  similar  details  of  the  present  day,  and 
withal  fit  for  the  public  eye,  and  a  place  in  a  public 
journal. 


OF   CHARLESTON,   S.    C.  49 

"  Branded,  June  7,  1788,  John  Cooper,  William  Irons, 
"  Thomas  Jones,  Richard  Glascock,  John  Cunningham, 
"  John  Shields,  John  Bruce,  and  Thomas  Keely,  for  lar- 
"  ceny." 

"  Hanged,  June  11,  1788,  pursuant  to  sentence,  Robert 
"  Sta,cey,  Josiah  Jordan,  John  George,  Thomas  Smith,  Ed- 
"  ward  Hatcher,  and  Ann  Connelly,  for  the  murder  of 
"Nicholas  John  Wightman." 

"On  16th  June,  1788,  were  executed,  pursuant  to  sen- 
tence of  the  Court  of  Admiralty  Sessions,  for  piracy,  on 
11  the  American  Seas,  Captain  William  Rogers,  of  New  Lon- 
"don,  in  Connecticut;  John  Masters,  of  Cheshire,  in  Eng- 
"  land,  and  William  Pender  grass,  of  Derbyshire,  in  Eng- 
11  land,  charged  and  found  guilty  of  the  murder  of  Mr. 
"Abraham  Nathan,  of  the  Jewish  nation,  (joint  owner 
"  with  Rogers,)  and  passenger  on  board  the  sloop  Betsey,  in 
"  October  last.  Also,  Richard  Williams  and  William  Cain} 
"both  of  England,  for  the  murder  of  Captain  Nathaniel 
"  C.  Webb,  and  Mr.  Clode  or  McClode,  on  the  18th  or  20th 
"  May  last,  on  board  the  schooner  Two  Friends.  The  un- 
"  happy  Rogers  appeared  uncommonly  penitent  and  resign- 
"  ed,  from  the  day  of  his  being  apprehended,  to  the  moment 
"of  his  execution,  when  he  solicited  the  attendance  of  the 
"  clergy,  and  joined  in  pathetic  prayer  to  the  Supreme 
"  Being,  soliciting  the  pardon  of  his  God  for  every  trespass 
"he  had  committed,  and  the  forgiveness  of  every  mortal 
"  that  felt  himself  injured  by  him.  He,  to  the  last,  denied 
"having  wilfully  or  maliciously  killed  Mr.  Nathan,  and 
"  uniformly  persisted  in  the  declaration  that  he  was  not  in 
"  sound  mind  when  the  bloody  transaction  took  place  ;  and 
"  that  he  was  subject  to  fits  of  lunacy,  which  the  cousin  of 
"  Governor  Fanning,  and  several  others  from  that  State, 
"  have  likewise  declared,  as  also  to  his  being  addicted  to 
"  strong  liquor,  which  always  bereaved  him  of  his  reason. 

5 


50  THE   NEWSPAPER  PRESS 

"  This  assertion  Rogers  has  repeatedly  made  to  Mr.  Phae- 
14  lon,  both  before  and  after  his  trial,  and  to  divers  other 
11  gentlemen,  as  he  likewise  has,  in  sundry  parts  of  a  narra- 
11  tive  of  his  life,  which  he  had  been  writing  several  days 
11  prior  to  his  death.  The  contemplation  of  having  an  aged 
"  father  and  mother,  an  affectionate,  respectable  wife  and 
"five  young  children,  seemed  to  distress  him  beyond  ex- 
11  pression  or  description,  and  deeply  affect  the  numerous 
"  spectators,  male  and  female.  Rogers,  repeatedly,  at  the 
"spot  of  execution,  begged  the  prayers  of  all  present,  and 
"as  often  conjured  Major  Phaelon  to  give  good  advice 
"  and  direction  to  his  unfortunate  babes." 

Timothy  &  Mason  were  publishers  of  the  Gazette  for 
about  three  years,  from  January,  1797.  Under  them, 
the  paper  was  called  /South  Carolina  State  Gazette,  and 
Timothy  and  Masons  Daily  Advertiser.  Its  motto  was : 
"  The  public  will  be  our  guide — the  public  good  our  end." 

In  Timothy  &  Mason's  Gazette  and  Advertiser,  of  2d 
January,  1797,  we  find  among  the  advertisers,  names 
familiar  to  us  at  this  time.  Among  those  who  advertised 
vessels  up  for  London,  Liverpool,  and  other  English  and 
American  ports,  were  W.  &  E.  Crafts,  Thomas  Morris, 
John  Haslett  &  Co.,  Eobert  Hazelhurst  &  Co.,  Hen- 
ry Ellison,  Corrie  &  Schepeler,  Mure  &  Boyd,  Camp- 
bell, Harvey  &  Co.,  E.  Coffin,  Crocker,  Hichborn 
&  Wright,  Nicholas  Norris,  Thomas  Turner,  John 
Teasdale,  Samuel  Watson,  J.  &  E.  Gardner  &  Co. 
Those  in  the  importing  and  grocery  trade,  were  Andrew 
McKenzie,  Thomas  Hooper  &  Co.,  J.  Winthrop,  Webb 
&  Lamb,  Charles  Banks  &  Co.,  John  Love,  David  Mc- 
Credie  &  Co.  In  the  auction  and  brokerage  business, 
were  Peter  Trezevant,  William  Skrine,  Travers 
Robertson,  Colcock  &  Patterson,  Jacobs  &  Conyers, 
Jacob  De  Leon,  Joseph  Park,  Jacob  Cohen,  John 


OF    CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  51 

Potter,  J.  S.  Cripps,  Denoon,  Campbell  &  Co.  The 
co-partnership  of  North  &  Vesey  was  announced  as  dis- 
solved. 

In  the  number  of  March  28,  1797,  there  is  a  list  of 
American  vessels,  with  the  names  of  their  Captains,  and 
the  valuation  of  their  cargoes,  which  were  captured  by 
French  privateers  and  gun  boats,  and  sent  into  different 
ports  in  the  Island  of  St.  Domingo.  As  it  may  be  of  in- 
terest and  prove  quite  serviceable  at  some  future  day,  a 
list  of  them  is  appended : 

May  12. — Schooner  Amelia,  Cochran,  of  Boston ;  cargo, 
$16,000. 

August  11. — Brig  Freemason,  Wise,  of  New  York  ;  car- 
go, $2°6,000  ;  vessel,  $4,000. 

August  20. — Brig  Brutus,  Aborn,  of  New  York  ;  cargo 
valued  at  $10,000;  vessel  at  $5,000.— Schr.  Benessoff 
Parcal,  Boniveta,  of  St.  Thomas. 

August  26. — Brig  Kerren  Hannish,  Lillebridge,  of  Phil- 
adelphia; cargo,  $12,000.— Brig  Franklin,  Pick,  of  Phila- 
delphia ;  cargo,  $5,430  ;  vessel,  $4,000. 

August  27. — Brig  Mary,  Boyle,  of  Baltimore  ;  cargo, 
$6,000  ;  vessel,  $6,000.— Brig  Clio,  Ball,  of  Baltimore. 

August  31.— Sloop  Honor,  Kimball,  of  New  London; 
cargo,  $3,000;  vessel,  $1,500.— Sloop  Leader,  Warner, 
Cape  Ann  ;  cargo,  $5,000.— Brig  Polly,  Watson,  of  Phila- 
delphia.— Brig  Nymph,  Sullivan,  of  Philadelphia ;  cargo, 
$10,000. 

September  1.— Brig  Pearl,  Webb,  of  New  London; 
cargo,  $6,000.— Schr.  Three  Friends,  of  Baltimore.— Schr. 
Hodges,  Jacocks,  of  Philadelphia  ;  cargo,  $8,000. 

September  4.— Schr.  Charming  Polly,  Pritchett,  of  Bal- 
timore;  cargo,  $25,000;  vessel,  $3,600.— Sloop  Nelly, 
Adams,  of  Boston.— Schr.  Somerset,  Dillingham,  of  Charles- 


52  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

ton. — Schr.  Catharine,  Stoy,  of  Philadelphia. — Schr.  Rain- 
bow, Howland,  of  New  Bedford. 

September  17.— Brig  Nancy,  Mey,  of  New  York;  cargo, 
$20,000 ;  vessel,  $5,000. 

September  21. — Schr.  Anna  Maria,  Wilson,  of  Balti- 
more; cargo,  $5,000;  vessel,  $4,000. 

September  23. — Schooner  Wilmington  Packet,  Francis, 
of  Charleston. 

Those  without  dates,  are  :  Brig  Pomona,  of  Baltimore  ; 
Brig  Experiment,  Hutson ;  Brig  Triton ;  Schr.  Hannah ; 
Schr.  Nancy  ;  Sloop  Sincerity,  of  Philadelphia ;  Sloop  De- 
lia ;  Schr.   Hibernia ;    Brig  Charlotte  ;  Brig  Glasgow,  of 

'  New  York  ;  Schr. ,  of  Georgetown  ;  Sloop  Joanna,  of 

Providence  ;  Sloop  Polly,  of  States  Island  ;  Schr.  Eliza 
and  Schr.  Three  Friends,  of  Charleston  ;  Schrs.  Liberty 
and  Juno,  of  Boston  ;  Brig  Despatch,  Lunt,  cargo,  $8,000  ; 
vessel,  $4,000  ;  Brig  Wolwich,  McCutcheon,  and  Schooner 
Success,  of  Philadelphia ;  Schr.  Harding,  of  New  York. 
There  are  nine  more  condemned  at  L'Anne  a  Vease,  the 
names  of  which  are  not  mentioned.  L'Anne  a  Vease,  is, 
doubtless,  intended  for  l'Anse  a  Veau,  an  anchorage  in  the 
French  part  of  the  Island  of  St.  Domingo. 

There  lived  and  flourished  about  this  time,  (1797,)  Mr. 
John  Geyer,  one  of  the  merchant  princes  of  the  day.  He 
built  and  owned  what  was  then  considered  the  fire-proof 
range  of  stores,  at  the  North  East  corner  of  our  present 
North  Commercial  Wharf ;  that  and  the  one  South,  were 
then  known  as  Geyer's  wharves.  The  residence  of  Mr. 
Geyer,  still  standing,  was,  in  those  good  old  times^  the 
scene  of  many  elegant  hospitalities ;  and  within  a  few 
years,  there  were  living  those  who  well  remembered  this 
current  interrogatory  :  "  Who  dines  with  Geyer  to-day  ?" 

John  Geyer  deserves  mention  as  a  man  of  great  energy 
and  success,  as  a  large   planter  and  successful  merchant. 


OP  CHARLESTON,   S.   C.  53 

He  became  financially  involved  by  the  capture  and  con- 
demnation of  his  ships  by  French  privateers,  in  1797  and 
'98 ;  among  them  were  the  ships  Ruby,  the  Rising  Sun, 
and  the  Rainbow.  He  died,  February  12th,  1825,  at  his 
residence,  No.  10  Atlantic  Street,  (then  Lynch's  Street,) 
where  a  grandson  of  his  now  resides. 

The  South  Carolina  Gazette  and  Timothy  and  Mason1 8 
Daily  Advertiser  changed  its  title  and  proprietorship  in 
January,  1806,  then  B.  F.  Timothy  published  it  alone,  as 
the  South  Carolina,  State  Gazette,  and  Timothy  s  Daily 
Advertiser. 


CHAPTEK   VI. 

DAVID  R.  WILLIAMS,  E.  S.  THOMAS  AND  OTHER  EDITORS — 
THE  CITY  GAZETTE  AND  DAILY  ADVERTISER — THE  DAILY 
EVENING  POST — THE  FIFTH  DISASTROUS  FIRE,  OCTOBER, 
1810 — EARTHQUAKES — SKINNER  AND  WHILDEN — CRIME 
RAMPANT — MR.  AND  MRS.  FISHER — THEIR  ARREST  AND 
EXECUTION — THE  SIXTH  DISASTROUS  FIRE,  FEBRUARY, 
1835 — THE  GAZETTE  AND  ITS  EDITORS,  FROM  1822  TO 
1832 — WILLIAM  GILMORE  SIMMS — THE  SEVENTH  DISAS- 
TROUS FIRE,  JUNE,  1835 — ABSORPTION  OF  THE  GAZETTE 
BY  THE  COURIER. 

David  E.  Williams  afterwards  published  the  Gazette 
and  Advertiser,  and  remained  proprietor  until  September, 
1809.  At  the  expiration  of  that  year,  Frenau  &  Will- 
iams became  the  proprietors,  and  issued  the  Gazette  and 
Advertiser  from  the  central  house  of  the  buildings  on  East 
Bay,  now  known  as   "  Prioleau's   Range."*     This  range 

*  Opposite  to  this  range  of  buildings  is  the  office  of  the  Charleston  Daily 
News,  which  site  was,  previous  to  1800,  known  as  "Harris'  Tavern."  Sub- 
sequent to  Harris'  time,  a  wholesale  crockery  importing  store  was  kept 
there,  by  one  Mr.  Allen.  After  the  premises  had  been  closed  some  years, 
they  were  re-opened  as  a  tavern,  and  conducted  by  Lawrence  Durse;  then 
by  Orren  By rd,  up  to  1823;  then  by  Horatio  Street,  who  became  manager 
of  the  Planters'  Hotel.  Louis  Eude  succeeded  Horatio  Street  It  was  after- 
wards successively  conducted  as  the  French  Coffee  House,  by  H.  Mignot, 
A.  Ligniez,  Wm.  Greer,  and  P.  J.  Coogan.  This  tavern,  entered  as  it  was 
from  the  street  by  steps,  was  a  resort  on  Sunday,  between  12  M.  and  1  P.  M., 
for  merchants  and  influential  men  of  that  period.  It  was  Mr.  Ligniez  who, 
about  the  year  1835,  substituted  for  the  old  front  the  one  more  modern  in 
appearance. 

In  a  small  brick  building  next  North  of  the  French  Coffee  House,  George 
Lyon,  watch-maker  and  jeweler,  was  atrociously  and  mysteriously  murder- 
ed, on  the  night  of  June  11, 1844. 


56  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

of  buildings  was,  in  1806,  known  as  the  "Corner  of  Com- 
merce," and  was  constructed  by  Benjamin  Paul  Will- 
iams, at  a  cost  of  4,000  guineas,  for  the  storage  of  produce. 

David  Rogerson  Williams,  one  of  the  proprietors  of 
the  Gazette,  and  who  was  born  10th  March,  1776,  was  a 
brother-in-law  of  the  editor,  John  McIver.  He  was  not 
a  man  of  yesterday,  but  a  genuine  exemplar  of  Carolina 
honor,  firmness  and  candor.  In  politics,  a  tried  democrat 
of  the  old  school — opposed  to  Federal  usurpations — well 
disciplined  in  the  politics  of  Jefferson  and  of  Madison. 
He  was  a  Brigadier  General  in  the  regular  army,  and  re- 
signed his  commission  to  take  a  seat  in  the  United  States 
Congress  of  1811  and  '12.  He  retained  to  the  day  of  his 
death,  the  name  of  "  thunder  and  lightning  Williams,"  a 
sobriquet  obtained  after  a  speech,  delivered  with  all  the 
vehemence  of  animated  rhetoric,  in  that  Congress,  against 
the  government  of  Great  Britain. 

A  letter  from  Washington,  which  appeared  in  the  Cou- 
rier, dated  January  7,  1812,  says  : 

11  Mr.  Williams  of  your  State,  spoke  above  an  hour,  and 
"  acquitted  himself  in  a  manner  far  beyond  my  expecta- 
11  tion."  Another  letter,  written  by  the  reporter  of  the 
Baltimore  Democratic  American,  m  alluding  to  Mr.  Will- 
iams' speech,  said  :  "  No  man  can  conceive  the  impressive 
"  manner  in  which  it  was  delivered,  nor  the  Roman  energy 
11  and  overwhelming  vehemence  of  the  speaker's  elocution. 
11  You  have  seen  and  heard  Cooper.  The  voice  of  Mr. 
11  Williams  is  more  vigorous,  more  powerful,  more  com- 
"  manding  than  that  of  this  celebrated  Tragedian." 

Mr.  Williams  was,  in  the  year  1814,  called  to  the 
Gubernatorial  chair  of  this  State.  The  courier  who  was 
charged  with  the  delivery  of  the  letter  which  made  known 
to  General  Williams  his  election  to  a  position,  in  those 
days  acquired  without  bribery  and  corruption,  met  the 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  57 

General  in  his  wagon  on  the  high  road,  while  he  was 
returning  to  his  house,  near  Society  Hill,  from  Fulwyder's 
foundry,  on  Cowder's  Creek,  in  North  Carolina,  with  ma- 
chinery for  his  plantation. 

Governor  Williams  met  with  a  fatal  accident  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  15th  of  November,  1830,  by  the  falling 
of  a  beam,  while  superintending  the  building  of  a  bridge 
over  Lynch's  Creek.  On  being  relieved  from  his  distress- 
ing situation,  it  was  found  that  both  legs  were  broken  be- 
low the  knee.  This  caused  his  death  on  the  following 
morning  at  4  o'clock.  He  was  buried  in  the  cemetery  of 
the  family,  four  miles  below  Society  Hill. 

"  Even  in  his  ashes  live  his  wonted  fires." 

In  January,  1811,  Peter  Frenau  &  Co.,  became  the 
proprietors  and  publishers  of  the  Gazette  and  Daily  Ad- 
vertiser, aad  held  possession  until  the  1st  January,  1812. 
From  that  time  until  January,  1814,  Mr.  Frenau's  co- 
partners, Samuel  J.  Elliott  and  Samuel  Richards,  two 
very  practical  typographers,  conducted  the  paper. 

Peter  Frenau  was  a  graduate  of  Princeton  College  ; 
was  versed  in  the  ancient  and  modern  languages,  and 
possessed  a  wide  range  of  general  knowledge.  He  was  the 
brother  of  Phillip  Freistau,  who  was  the  poet  of  the  revo- 
lution, and  the  author  of  political  satires  on  Royalists — 
"  The  House  of  Night,"  "  The  Beauties  of  Santa  Cruz," 
etc.  The  latter  perished  in  a  snow-storm,  near  Freehold, 
New  Jersey,  in  the  80th  year  of  his  age,  December  18, 
1832.  Copies  of  his  works  have  been  preserved  by  that 
bibliothecal  institution,  the  "  Charleston  Library  Society.' 

The  City  Gazette  and  Daily  Advertiser  was,  on  the  1st 
of  July,  1815,  with  the  patronage  of  several  successful 
years,  transferred  to  E.  S.  Thomas,  a  bookseller,  and  pub- 
lished by  him  at  234  East  Bay.     Mr.  Thomas  was  by 


58  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

birth  a  New  Englander,  the  son  of  the  author,  Frederick 
William  Thomas,  and  nephew  of  Isaiah  Thomas,  LL.  D. 
After  severing  his  connection  with  the  press  here,  he  went 
to  Baltimore,  where  he  became  prominent  in  Maryland 
State  politics;  thence  to  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  and 
he  was  finally  known  as  the  proprietor  and  editor  of  The 
Daily  Evening  Post,  which  was  published  at  Cincinnati, 
Ohio.  Mr.  E.  S.  Thomas  was  the  author  of  sketches  of  his 
own  life  and  times,,  published  in  1840.  He  died  in  Cin- 
cinnati, on  the  22nd  of  October,  1845,  aged  71  years. 

The  fire  of  the  9th  of  October,  1810,  fourteen  years  after 
that  of  1796,  was  the  next  of  consequence.  The  newspapers 
graphically  noticed  it.  The  Gazette  s  report,  on  account 
of  its  brevity,  is  selected : 

"  The  fire  broke  out  in  a  small  house  in  Church  Street, 
M  between  St.  Philips'  Church  and  Anson  Street.  It  ex- 
11  tended  as  far  North  as  Motte  Street.  Its  course  South 
"  was  to  Queen  Street ;  through  that  down  to  Union  Street, 
"  then  into  Broad  Street.  The  destruction  of  the  house 
"  occupied  by  Mr.  Chupein,  just  West  of  Union  Street,  was 
"  the  means  of  preventing  the  further  extension  of  the 
"  flames.  The  loss  of  property  is  supposed  to  be  about 
"  half  a  million  of  dollars.  In  this  fire,  one  hundred  and 
M  ninety  four  houses  have  been  destroyed." 

The  months  of  December,  January,  and  February,  1811, 
and  1812,  were  remarkable  for  earthquakes  in  Charleston, 
and  were  the  subject  of  much  comment  on  the  part  of  the 
press.  Six  distinct  shocks  were  felt  16th  December,  1811. 
The  first,  was  five  minutes  before  3  o'clock,  A.  M.,  and  set 
the  bells  of  St.  Philips'  Church  ringing.  The  second  occur- 
red while  the  Town  clock  was  striking  three ;  this  was  slight- 
er than  the  first,  and  continued  about  twenty-two  seconds. 
The  third,  was  felt  at  three  minutes  before  8,  A.  M.,  and 
the  fourth,  at  ten  minutes  after  8  o'clock  ;  the  vibratory 


OF  CHARLESTON,   S.   C.  59 

motion  was  East  and  West ;  wind  North-north-east.  Two 
more  shocks  were  experienced  the  same  night ;  one  at  11 
o'clock,  and  the  other  at  twenty  minutes  after  12  o'clock — 
being  six  in  two  days.  On  the  24th  January,  1812,  another 
of  these  agitations  occurred ;  and  again  on  the  4th  Feb- 
ruary. On  the  7th  of  the  same  month,  there  were  two 
more  shocks — one  just  before  9,  and  the  other  about  11 
o'clock,  P.  M.  The  first  of  these  was  of  half  a  minute  du- 
ration ;  the  second,  two  minutes.  Another  slight  shock  was 
felt  on  the  10th  February.  February  21st,  1812,  was  set 
apart  by  Council,  as  a  day  of  humiliation,  fasting,  and 
prayer,  at  the  request  of  the  Reverend  Clergy  of  all  de- 
nominations, and  the  citizens  were  requested  to  humble 
themselves  on  that  day  before  the  Most  High,  imploring 
that  He  would  avert  from  this  land  the  evils  which 
threatened  it,  from  the  frequent  awful  visitations  which 
they  had  of  late  experienced. 

Charleston  was  not  again  visited  by  earthquakes  until 
7th  February,  1843.  A  few  minutes  before  10,  A.  M.  on  that 
day,  two  distinct  shocks  were  felt.  They  were  very  slight, 
though  many  persons  in  different  sections  of  the  City  felt 
them  sensibly.  Another,  and  the  last  of  these  visitations 
occurred  December  19, 1857.  It  was  described  by  Professor 
L.  R.  Gibbes,  as  being  more  of  an  agitation  of  the  earth,  as 
no  decided  shock  or  blow  was  perceived.  The  motion  con- 
sisted of  a  series  of  horizontal  oscillations,  increasing  grad- 
ually in  distinctness,  and  then  subsiding  somewhat  more 
rapidly,  lasting  about  six  or  eight  minutes. 

January  1st,  1816,  The  Gazette  and  Advertiser,  which 
had  again  been  advertised  for  sale,  passed  into  the  hands 
of  Samuel  Haviland  Skinner  and  Jos.  Whilden,  under 
the  firm  of  Skinner  &  Whilden,  and  was  published  at 
244  East  Bay,  corner  of  Blake's  Wharf,  (now  Central 
Atlantic  Wharf.)     Mr.  Skinner,  for  two  years  before  he 


GO  THE  NEWSPAPER  TRESS 

became  one  of  the  proprietors,  conducted  the  printing,  and 
at  intervals  the  editorial  department  likewise.  It  has  been 
said  of  Mr.  Skinner  that  he  was  manly  and  noble  in  his 
bearing,  elegant  in  person,  gentlemanly  in  feeling,  and 
generous  to  a  fault.  Mr.  Skinner,  together  with  others 
prominent  among  the  craft,  boarded  in  the  family  of  Mr. 
Edward  Sebring,  who  then  resided  two  doors  East  of  his 
present  business  locality.  Mr.  Skinner  was  drowned  near 
Cape  Hatteras,  while  on  a  tour  to  his  home  in  Connecti- 
cut. Mr.  Whilden  was  known  for  five  years  preceding 
his  joint  proprietorship,  as  collector  for  the  establishment 
of  the  Gazette  and  Advertiser.  Three  years  later,  January, 
1819,  the  Gazette  and  Advertiser  was  sold,  and  it  became 
the  individual  property  of  Joseph  Whilden. 

It  will  be  necessary,  en  passant,  to  wander  from  the 
chronological  record  and  refer  to  the  beneficial  influences 
the  press  exerted  about  this  time  (1819-20)  in  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  vice  which  existed  in  the  City. 

Too  frequently,  the  torch  of  the  incendiary,  together 
with  the  machinations  of  the  desperado,  gave  scope  for  in- 
dividual condemnation.  Not  less  frequent  were  the  warn- 
ings given  by  the  City  journals  to  the  authorities  to  sup- 
press the  then  existing  evils. 

This  condition  of  society,  bad  as  it  was  in  the  City, 
was  much  worse  in  its  environs.  Gangs  of  white  despera- 
does occupied  certain  houses,  and  infested  the  roads  lead- 
ing to  the  City.  To  such  an  extent  did  these  outlaws  carry 
their  excesses,  that  wagoners  and  others  coming  into  the 
City  were  under  the  necessity  of  carrying  rifles  in  their 
hands  for  defence.  Travelers  passed  these  houses  with  fear 
and  trembling.  More  dreaded  than  others  of  these  haunts, 
was  that  known  as  the  Six  Mile  House,  occupied  by  John 
Fisher  and  Lavinia,  his  wife.  State  Sheriff,  N.  G. 
Cleary,  was  forced  to  move  against  these  highwaymen. 


OF   CHARLESTON,   S.   C.  61 

"With  a  number  of  mounted  citizens  and  detachments  from 
the  Charleston  Kiflemen,  Washington  Light  Infantry,  and 
the  Northern  Volunteers,  he  started  on  the  errand  of  ex- 
termination. 

The  City  papers  of  January  and  February,  1820,  give 
accounts  of  the  capture  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.    Fisher.     The 
"  Constitutional  Court"  of  19th  January,  1820,  had  refused 
to  grant  new  trials  to  John  and  Lavinia  Fisher,  convict- 
ed at  the  previous  Court  of  highway  robbery,  and  they  were 
sentenced  to  be  hung  on  Friday,  4th  February,  following. 
They  were,  however,  respited  until   the    18th,  on   their 
petition,  imploring  an    opportunity   for   preparation,  and 
asking  but  for  "  time  to  meet  their  God."    On  Friday,  18th, 
at  2  o'clock,  just  within  the  lines,  on   a  hill  East  of  the 
Meeting  Street  road,  about  eight  hundred  yards  North  of 
the   street,  now  known  as  Line   Street  continued,  John 
Fisher  and  his  wife  met  their  fate,  the  former  with  calm- 
ness  and   composure,  the  latter  with  fear  and  trepidation. 
Mrs.  Fisher  appeared,  from  the  time  of  her  arrest,  to  be 
under  the  influence  of  wrong  passions  and  feelings.     It 
was  evident  she  flattered   herself  with  the  expectation  of 
pardon   from   the   Executive.     Mr.  Fisher,  on    arriving 
within  sight  of  the  gallows,  drew  his  wife  convulsively  to 
his  bosom,  and  speedily  nerved  himself  for  the  issue.     The 
unhappy  wife  could  not  believe  it  possible  that  she  was  so 
soon  to  die.    She  called  upon  the  immense  throng  assembled 
to  rescue    her,  and  implored  pity  with  outstretched  and 
trembling  arms.     No  scene  could  be  more  appalling  as  the 
ill-fated  pair  stood  between  time  and  eternity.     The  plat- 
form gave  way  at  a  given  signal  from  the  Sheriff,  then  all 
was  hushed  and  still — that  which  was  mortal  had  put  on 
immortality. 

Denmark  Vesey  (a  free  black  man)  and  several  slaves, 


G2  THE  tfEWSPAPEB  PRESS 

convicted  of  an  attempt  to  raise  an  insurrection    in   the 
State,  were  executed  on  the  same  spot,  in  July,  1822. 

Severe  strictures  were  made  by  the  New  York  National 
Advocate  against  the  execution  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fisher, 
from  the  fact  that  the  account  of  the  robbery,  together 
with  the  testimony  on  the  trial,  were  not  laid  before  the 
people.  These  strictures  on  our  criminal  jurisprudence 
were  ably  refuted  at  the  time,  by  several  writers. 

It  was  on  the  4th  of  October,  1822,  that  Joseph  Wiiil- 
den  retired.  The  Gazette  and  Daily  Advertiser  was  then 
purchased  by  Edward  Carew,  for  John  G-eddes,  jr.,  son 
of  General  John  Geddes,  who  was  Governor  of  South 
Carolina,  from  1818  to  1820,  and  elected  Intendant  of 
Charleston,  in  place  of  Maj.  James  Hamilton,  jr.,  in 
January,  1823,  by  sixty-nine  majority,  only  535  votes  hav- 
ing been  cast.  Isaac  Harby  was  Geddes'  assistant  edi- 
tor, and  devoted  all  his  time  and  talent  to  the  advance- 
ment of  the  political  and  literary  character  of  the  journal, 
in  the  department  he  was  so  well  fitted  to  adorn.  In  that 
paper,  on  the  19th  of  June,  1823,  it  was  mentioned  that 
the  first  number  of  the  Georgetown  Gazette  had  just  been 
issued  in  Charleston.  The  subsequent  numbers  were  issued 
in  Georgetown.  In  that  place,  which  was  at  one  time 
second  in  importance  in  the  State,  the  Gazette  was  pub- 
lished by  Messrs.  Elliott  &  Burd.  It  is  quite  probable 
that  Mr.  Burd  was  a  son  of  J.  V.  Burd,  before  mentioned 
as  having  died  in  1785. 

John  Geddes,  on  the  5th  February,  1825,  sold  the  Ga- 
zette and  Daily  Advertiser  to  James  Haig,  a  talented  son 
of  one  of  Charleston's  respected  mechanics,  Mr.  David 
Haig.  Simms,  in  his  skeleton  outline  of  early  authors, 
says : 

"  Haig  entered  upon  the  field  of  journalism,  with  a  rep- 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  63 

w  utation  brought  from  college.  He  was  a  man  of  ability, 
11  wrote  well  in  a  serious  vein,  but-  was  deficient  in  that 
"  sprightliness  so  essential  to  a  daily  newspaper." 

On  the  28th  of  June,  1826,  there  is  narrated  in  Haig's 
Gazette  the  serious  fire  of  that  year.  This  fire,  the  Gazette 
mentions,  "broke  out  on  Saturday  morning,  in  the  house  of 
"  Mr.  John  Conner,  saddler  and  harness  maker,  on  the 
"West  side  of  King  Street,  a  few  doors  above  Boundary 
"  Street,  (now  Calhoun  Street.)  The  number  of  houses 
"  burnt  was  upwards  of  thirty,  besides  the  outbuildings. 
"  The  loss  of  property  is  supposed  to  be  considerably  over 
"  $100,000.  "We  are  happy  to  state  that  no  lives  were  lost, 
':  which  had  been  apprehended,  from  the  repeated  explo- 
"  sions  of  powder.  A  fire  broke  out  in  the  same  spot,  in 
11  the  year  1800,  in  which  a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  lost 
"  their  lives.  This  is  the  greatest  calamity  of  the  kind 
"  since  1810." 

James  Haig  sold  the  Gazette  to  a  company  of  gentlemen 
composed  of  Charles  John  Steadman,  and  others,  on 
the  17th  July,  1828.  A  son  of  the  late  Col.  Steadman 
is  now,  and  has  been  for  many  years,  a  Commander  in  the 
Navy  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  4th  of  August,  1828,  the  City  Gazette  and  Daily 
Advertiser  announced  that  Theodore  L.  Smith  would  be 
publisher  for  the  proprietors.  The  paper  was  then  printed 
in  Exchange  Street,  in  the  rear  of  the  present  "  Old  Post 
Office."  Smith  sold  the  Gazette  to  Wm.  Gilmore  Simms 
and  E.  Smith  Duryea,  the  publishing  firm  being  Simms 
&  Duryea,  and  was  so  announced  on  the  1st  January,  1830. 
This  firm  adopted  as  a  motto  for  their  paper,  the  following 
quotation  from  Othello's  last  speech,  when  summoned 
before  the  Senate  of  Venice  :  "  Nothing  extenuate,  nor  set 
down  aught  in  malice."  Under  the  sub-title  was  this 
citation  :  "  A  Map  of  Honor,  Loyalty  and  Truth,"  also  from 


64  THE   NEWSPAPER  PRESS 

the  immortal  Sitakspeare.  The  office  of  the  Gazette 
was  afterwards  removed  to  the  South  side  of  Broad  Street, 
near  East  Bay. 

It  was  at  this  locality  on  one  occasion,  during  the  nulli- 
fication troubles,  that  the  material  of  the  Gazette  came  very 
near  being  destroyed.  A  severe  political  leader  from  the 
pen  of  Mr.  Simms,  the  editor,  brought  in  front  of  his 
office  a  large  number  of  persons  politically  opposed  to  the 
course  of  the  paper,  and  who  had  proscribed  it  for  its  polit- 
ical opinions.  The  excited  crowd  made  threats  of  violence. 
Happily  it  was  prevented  through  the  agency  of  a  few 
firm  friends  of  Mr.  Simms'  partner,  Mr.  Duryea.  The 
most  prominent  of  those  who  came  forward  in  Mr.  Dur- 
yea's  behalf  was  David  N.  McIntosh,  well  known  to 
many  of  our  old  citizens. 

William  Gilmore  Simms  subsequently,  (April  9, 1832,) 
became  sole  proprietor  of  the  Gazette.  Mr.  Simms  effected  a 
sale  and  transfer  of  his  establishment  to  William  Law- 
rence Poole,  on  the  7th  of  June,  1832.  Mr.  Poole  came 
from  Cheraw,  in  this  State,  at  which  place  he  was  pub- 
lishing the  Cheraw  Intelligencer,  to  purchase  and  secure 
the  Gazette. 

The  brilliant  literary  career  of  Wm.  Gilmore  Simms, 
LL.  D.,  is  well  known.  He  was  born  in  this  City  on  the 
17th  of  April,  1806.  At  one  period  of  his  life,  he  escaped 
by  only  one  vote,  the  responsibilities  of  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor of  this  State.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  stood,  in 
editorial  age,  next  to  Jacob  N.  Cardozo,  and  as  an  author, 
takes  precedence  in  the  whole  South,  as  the  writer  of  the 
greatest  number  of  works,  possessing  intense  local  interest. 

In  youth  Mr.  Simms  acquired  a  taste  for  letters ;  in  ear- 
ly manhood  this  taste  was  increased  by  diligent  study, 
and  when  his  future  was  determined  on,  he  went  forth 
upon  the  stage  of  life  as  a  scholar.     An  earnest  reader, 


OF  CHARLESTON,   S.   C.  65 

and,  possessing  a  tenacious  memory,  he  turned  these  ad- 
vantages to  much  account,  in  both  public  and  private  life. 
As  a  journalist,  he  wrote  just  as  he  talked,  and  his  conver- 
sational powers  were  very  great.  None  more  able,  could 
have  been  found  among  the  fraternity  of  editors,  and  he, 
too,  though  only  as  an  amateur,  grasped  the  composing  stick, 
and  buckled  to  the  case,  in  years  more  youthful,  and  whilst 
the  young  mind  was  easily  impregnated  with  new  ideas. 

Who  that  knew  this  savant — who  that  has  listened  to  his 
counsels — who  that  has  enjoyed  his  confidence,  or  the  ben- 
efit of  his  society — the  brightness  of  his  example,  and  the 
richness  of  his  friendship — who  among  them  will  refuse 
their  sympathy,  or  hesitate  to  give  their  meed  of  acquies- 
cence to  the  foregoing  sentiments,  expressed  by  one  who 
knew  him  well — who  loved  him  much,  and  who  records  so 
imperfect  a  tribute  to  the  mental  characteristics  of  this  great 
Southern  litterateur.  With  him  mortality  has  but  yesterday, 
as  it  were,  put  on  immortality,  and  now  that  he  is  gone,  it 
is  as  if  some  prominent  feature  which  formed  the  principal 
object  of  a  landscape,  were  blotted  out;  the  prospect  pre- 
sents to  the  mind  a  void,  which  the  surroundings  cannot 
replace.  As  the  sun  went  down  in  repose  on  the  evening 
of  the  11th  of  June,  1870,  so  faded  from  view,  gently, 
calmly,  and  in  that  peace  which  became  a  great  life — one 
whose  friends  were  numbered  by  thousands,  and  whose 
admirers  embraced  the  world. 

Our  State  owes  an  incalculable  debt  of  gratitude  to  his 
genius,  and  to  that  talent  he  had  chosen  to  employ  so 
nobly  through  life  in  perpetuating  her  history — 

"  Each  age  to  him  its  grateful  dues  shall  pay." 

E.  Smith  Duryea,  the  co-partner  of  Mr.  Simms,  was  a 
practical  printer,  having  served  his  apprenticeship  with 
Mr.  A.  E.  Miller,  and  was  quite  popular  as  a  journalist. 


>"  THE   NEWSPAPEB  PRE 

Scarcely  had  lie  reached  the  age  of  maturity — io  the  rich 
development  of  those  social  and  tender  charities  of  life,  in 

the  future  usefulness  so  peculiarly  characteristic  of  his 
mild  deportment  and  benevolent  heart — when  he  died. 
This  event  occurred  on  the  25th  of  March,  1832,  in  the 
26th  year  of  his  age.  E.  Smith  Duryea  was  the  father 
of  Colonel  Robert  S.  Duryea,  Counselor  at  Law  in  our 
City. 

Before  taking  leave  of  the  City  Gazette  and  Daily  Ad- 
vertiser, and  prior  to  noticing  its  absortion  by  the  Gourier^ 
we  propose  to  refer  to  the  memorable  fires  of  the  16th  of 
February,  1835,  and  that  four  months  after,  6th  of  June, 
1835. 

The  one  of  the  16th  February,  1835,  broke  out  at  the 
N.  E.  corner  of  State  and  Linguard  Streets ;  sixty-three 
houses  were  burnt.  The  most  distressing  feature  of  this 
calamity,  was  the  destruction  of  St.  Philips'  Church,  a  ven- 
erable structure  completed  in  1723-4.*  Truly,  the  de- 
struction of  that  venerable  pile  must  have  recalled  to  its 
worshipers  the  words  of  Isaiah,  wThen  in  his  lamentations 
over  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  he  exclaimed :  "  Then 
it  was  that  our  Holy,  and  our  beauteous  house,  where  our 
Fathers  praised  thee,  is  burned  up  by  fire  !"  Twice  before 
had  this  Church  escaped  when  surrounded  by  fire.  First 
in  1796.     It  was  again  in  peril  in  1810. 

Hard  on  this  misfortune,  came  the  calamity  of  the  6th 
June,  1835,  which  the  City  journals  announced  as  having 
originated  in  a  small  wooden  tenement  on  the  West  side  of 
Meeting  Street,  near  Hasel  Street.  The  number  of  build- 
ings destroyed  was  estimated  from  three  to  four  hundred. 


*  Sheout,  page  G.  Divine  Service  was  first  performed  in  this  Church 
in  1723. 

Gospel  Messenger,  vol.  xxiv,  chapter  xvi,  page  37.  It  was  in  this  year 
(1723)  that  the  Church,  then  building,  was  greatly  injured  by  a  hurricane. 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  b< 

Some  of  them,  large  brick  mansions,  but  much  the  larger 
proportion  of  them  were  two  story  frame  houses.  At 
this  fire  the  officers  and  crew  of  the  United  States  ship 
Natchez,  and  the  Revenue  Cutter  Alert;  the  officers  and 
privates  of  the  United  States  Army,  and  the  Captain  and 
crew  of  the  line  ship  Niagara  rendered  essential  aid. 

In  the  year  1837,  the  material  and  good  will  of  this  pa- 
per, under  the  name  of  The  South  Carolina  Gazette,  passed 
from  the  hands  of  Mr.  Poole,  into  those  of  Messrs.  A.  S. 
"Willixgtox  &  Co.  The  Courier  firm  published  it  as  an 
auxiliary  to  their  "  Map  of  busy  life,"  until  the  first  of 
October,  1840,  when  it  was  discontinued  in  consequence  of 
the  patronage  of  the  daily  and  tri- weekly  having  increased 
to  such  an  extent  as  to  render  the  publication  of  it  incon- 
venient. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  STATE  EIGHTS  AND  FREE  TRADE  EVENING  POST — 
JOHN  A.  STUART — J.  C.  NORRIS — B.  R.  GITSINGER — THE 
POST  CHANGES  HANDS — IT  DIES — THE  PALMETTO  BAT- 
TERY— JAMES  WRIGHT  SIMMONS — THE  TIMES  AND  PO- 
LITICAL AND  COMMERCIAL    EVENING  GAZETTE,  1806-8 — 

THOMAS     CAMPBELL    COX — WILLIAM    P.    YOUNG THOMAS 

SHEPPARD — THE  FRANKLIN  HEAD  SIGN,  1814 — THE 
TIMES  CHANGES  PROPRIETORS — SERINE  &  DUKE — T.  G. 
SERINE  LAST  PROPRIETOR,  1824 — THE  INVESTIGATOR — 
JOHN  MACKEY — TURNBULL's  ATTACK  ON  MACKEY — A  TO- 
RY MOB  ATTACKS  THE  OFFICE  OF  THE  INVESTIGATOR — 
JOHN  LYDE  WILSON,  EDITOR,  AUTHOR  AND  GOVERNOR. 

On  the  1st  October,  1831,  the  first  number  of  the  State 
Rights  and  Free  Trade  Evening  Post  was  issued  at  13 
Champney  Street,  (now  Exchange  Street,  South  of  the  Old 
Post  Office.)  This  paper  was  printed  by  William  Henry 
Gray,  for  John  A.  Stuart.  Mr.  Gray  was  trained  as  a 
printer  in  the  job  office  of  William  P.  Young  ;  and,  at  one 
time,  acted  as  foreman  of  the  Patriot,  and  was  afterwards 
the  senior  of  the  publishing  house  of  Gray  &  Ellis.  Mr. 
Gray,  who  was  a  zealous  member  of  the  craft,  died  2d 
October,  1836.  The  Post  was  a  party  organ,  and  was 
owned  by  James  Hamilton,  R.  J.  Turnbull,  R.  Y. 
Hayne  and  John  A.  Stuart.  The  following  extract  from 
the  writings  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  was  the  motto  under 
the  Charleston  head  of  this  paper  : 

"  Every  State  has  a  national  right  in  cases  not  within 


70  THE    NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

"  the  compact  (casus  11071  foederis)  to  nullify  of  their  own 
"authority,  all  assumptions  of  powers  by  others  within 
"  their  limits.  Without  this  right  they  would  be  under 
"  the  dominion,  absolute  and  unlimited,  of  whomsoever 
"  might  exercise  this  right  of  judgment  over  them." 

In  November,  1832,  James  C.  Norris  and  Benjamin 
R.  Gitsinger  purchased  the  Post  from  Mr.  Stuart  ;  the 
latter  having  become  the  proprietor  of  The  Charleston  Mer- 
cury. The  Post  did  not  change  its  politics.  It  continued 
to  advocate  nullification,  and,  as  some  regarded,  all  its  kin- 
dred heresies.  It  expired  after  it  had  attained  its  six  hun- 
dred and  eighty-fourth  number.  It  was,  afterwards,  reviv- 
ed and  published  as  The  Palmetto  Battery,  and  was  edited 
by  James  Wright  Simmons,  the  essayist  and  poet.  This 
paper  also  had  a  short  existence,  but  during  its  publication 
gave  evidence  of  its  ardent  devotion  to  the  doctrines  of 
nullification. 

Mr.  Norris  was  connected  with  the  Mercury  as  its 
book-keeper,  and  subsequently  filled  several  offices  within 
the  gift  of  the  City  Council.  He  died  18th  October,  1854- 
th  e  anniversary  of  his  birth  day,  62  years  of  age.  His 
co-partner,  Mr.  Gitsinger,  was  known  for  several  years 
as  the  able  and  devoted  foreman  of  the  Courier.  The  pro- 
prietors of  this  paper  reluctantly  parted  with  him  when 
he  quitted  their  service  to  assume  the  duties  of  Inspector 
of  Streets,  an  appoinment  bestowed  upon  him  by  Council. 

By  some  misadventure,  on  the  7th  August,  1855,  while 
on  the  fourth  floor  of  the  Job  Printing  establishment  of 
Messrs.  James,  Williams  &  Gitsinger,  3  Broad  Street, 
the  last  named  of  this  firm,  while  arranging  for  the  removal 
of  some  material,  lost  his  balance,  and  fell  through  a  trap 
door  to  the  lower  floor,  a  distance  of  some  fifty-four  feet. 
From  this  accident  Mr.  Gitsinger  never  fully  recovered. 
He  died  12th  February,  1858. 


OP   CHARLESTON,   S.   C.  71 

James  Wright  Simmons,  at  one  time  editor  of  the  Pal- 
metto Battery,  was  born  in  Charleston.  His  name  is  en- 
rolled in  the  imperishable  records  of  literary  fame.  Early 
in  life  (about  1817)  he  published  "  The  Exiles  Return." 
His  "  Memnon"  followed.  After  his  repeated  contributions 
to  the  daily  journals  and  magazines,  Mr.  Simmons  went 
North,  and  was  for  some  time  with  Morris  &  Willis,  of 
the  New  York  Mirror;  after  that,  with  Colonel  Watson 
Webb,  of  the  New- York  Courier  and  Enquirer ;  was  the 
correspondent  from  Florida  of  the  New  York  Evening 
Star,  and  wrote  the  "  Recollections  of  the  Campaign  in 
East  Florida,"  which  received  the  general  meed  of  admira- 
tion for  their  graceful  style,  lively  narrative  of  events,  and 
elegant  pictures  of  men  and  scenery.  Mr.  Simmons  went 
to  Galveston,  Texas,  in  1837  or  '38,  and  was  associated 
with  Major  Whitney,  of  the  Banner.  He  was,  after- 
wards, Comptroller  General  under  Governor  Lamar  ;  then 
Treasurer  of  the  Republic  of  Texas.  From  the  Boston  press 
as  late  as  1852,  he  published  "  The  Greek  Girl,"  a  tale  in 
two  cantos,  and  was,  also,  the  author  of  an  elaborate 
treatise  on  the  "  Moral  Character  of  Lord  Byron."  While 
contributing  largely  to  the  press  in  prose,  he.  wrote  many 
fugitive  poems.  This  poet,  essayist,  dramatist,  and  re- 
viewer, died  at  Memphis,  Tennessee,  in  his  68th  year.  One 
only  of  this  ancient  family  is  now  living.  The  mother  of 
Mr.  Simmons  was  a  Miss  Hayne,  and  one  of  the  six  ladies, 
near  relatives  of  Colonel  Isaac  Hayne,  who  vainly  peti- 
tioned Lord  John  Rawdon,  to  save  from  execution,  the 
life  of  that  distinguished  gentleman. 

The  Times  and  Political  and  Commercial  Evening  Ga- 
zette, another  daily  journal,  was  established  by  Messrs.  Cox 
&  Sheppard,  on  the  6th  of  October,  1800,  and  printed  at 
No.  167  Tradd  Street.  As  shortly  after  as  the  17th  No- 
vember, of  the   same  year,  its  name  was  changed  to  the 


72  THE  NEWSPAPER  PRESS 

Tunes,  City  Gazette  and  Merchants  Evening  Advertiser. 
On  the  lGth  March,  1801,  another  change  took  place  in  its 
title,  and  it  became  the  property  of  Thomas  Campbell 
Cox  and  his  brother-in-law,  William  P.  Young,  the  latter 
having  a  silent  interest  in  the  paper.  The  Times  was 
printed  at  No.  1  Broad  Street.  Mr.  Cox  became  sole  pro- 
prietor of  the  paper  early  in  1812.  He  died  in  this  City 
on  the  18th  October,  1814,  and  was  buried  in  the  grave 
yard  of  St.  Philips'  Church.  Mr.  Thomas  Sheppard  was 
from  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania.  He  died  in  this  City, 
April  10,  1809,  in  the  31st  year  of  his  age,  leaving  one 
son,  our  fellow  citizen,  Thomas  C.  Sheppard. 

Mr.  Young  was  a  job  printer  and  publisher,  and  for 
many  consecutive  years  conducted  The  Palladium  of 
Knowledge,  or  the  Carolina  and  Georgia  Almanac,  which 
was  issued  from  44  Broad  Street. 

The  idea  of  using  "  The  Franklin  Head"  as  a  sign  for  a 
book  store,  was  first  adopted  in  this  City  by  Mr.  Young. 
It  has  been,  subsequent  to  his  death,  successively  adopted 
and  used  by  the  late  W.  K.  Babcock,  at  the  corner  of 
King  and  Wentworth  Streets,  and  more  recently  by  Sam- 
uel Fogartie,  successor  to  the  late  Mr.  Babcock.  It  is 
now  the  sign  which  designates  "  Holmes'  Book  House." 

The  late  Thomas  Cox  Young,  and  the  Revd.  Thomas 
John  Young,  who  died  October  11,  1852,  lamented  by  the 
vestry  and  congregation  of  St.  Michael's  Church,  were 
sons  of  the  publisher  and  printer,  William  P.  Young. 

In  January,  1816,  Messrs.  Serine  &  Duke  became  the 
proprietors  of  The  Times,  and  at  the  close  of  1818,  while 
under  the  proprietorship  of  Mr.  J.  C.  Duke,  it  failed.  Mr. 
Duke  died  in  1824,  and  T.  G.  Serine,  the  senior  partner 
died  in  this  City  the  same  year.  Mr.  Skrine  was  the 
father  of  Dr.  T.  C.  Serine,  who  has  also  been  identified 
with  the   newspaper  press   of  Charleston.     The   former 


OF   CHARLESTON,   S.    C.  73 

owners  of  The  Times,  Messrs.  Cox  &  Sheppard,  were  suc- 
cessful as  publishers. 

The  Investigator  was  a  morning  paper,  published  on 
Vendue  Range,  four  doors  from  East  Bay,  by  John  Mac- 
key  and  John  Lyde  Wilson. 

The  first  issue  of  The  Investigator  was  on  the  1st  Au- 
gust, 1812  ;  its  motto  being  this  quotation  from  Dickin- 
son :  "  Think  of  your  ancestors  and  your  posterity."  The 
principles  of  the  paper  were  thus  defined : 

"  Independence  shall  be  the  leading  character  of  the  In- 
11  vestigator,  and  with  a  due  regard  to  decency  and  deco- 
11  rum,  the  truth,  sacred  truth,  however  hard  it  may 
11  bear  upon  public  delinquents,  shall  always  find  a  place 
11  in  its  columns.  Indeed,  truth,  sacred  truth  shall  be 
"its  Polar  Star." 

This  paper  was  quite  small,  measuring  only  20  by  26  in- 
ches. Its  place  of  publication  was,  afterwards,  changed 
to  226  East  Bay.  The  firm  was  John  Mackey  &  Co. 
Dr.  John  Mackey  died  December  14,  1831.  A  mural 
tablet  on  the  South  East  corner  of  Trinity  Church  marks 
the  spot  where  his  remains  were  interred.  Mr.  Mackey 
was  the  father  of  Albert  G-.  Mackey,  the  distinguished 
mason,  and  fluent  and  ready  writer  on  Masonic  Jurispru- 
dence. John  Mackey,  the  senior  proprietor  of  the  Inves- 
tigator, became  involved  in  a  rencounter  with  the  Hon. 
Robert  J.  Turnbull,  during  the  war  of  1812,  in  Broad 
Street,  directly  in  front  of  the  building  known  as  the 
property  of  the  "  Hebrew  Orphan  Society."  Mr.  Turn- 
bull,  bitter  as  an  anti-war  man,  crossed  from  the  South 
side  of  the  street  for  the  purpose  of  calling  Mr.  Mackey 
to  account  for  having  impugned,  in  his  paper,  the  position 
he  (Tqrnbull)  had  taken  in  regard  to  the  war.  Mr. 
Mackey,  on  receiving  a  blow  from  a  cane  in  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Turnbull,  clenched  with  his  antagonist,  Mr.  Mac- 
7 


74  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

key,  being  physically  superior,  soon  overcame  his  opponent, 
and  had  him  at  his  mercy ;  and  his  fixed  purpose,  seem- 
ingly, was  to  take  the  life  of  his  prostrate  political  foe. 
Mr.  Mackey  had  one  knee  pressed  on  Mr.  Turnbull's 
chest,  while  with  the  right  hand  he  firmly  grasped  his 
throat.  The  venerable  and  honored  Alfred  Huger,  then 
four  and  twenty  years  of  age,  in  all  the  vigor  of  his 
manhood,  and  whom  chance  placed  in  the  way,  went  to 
the  rescue  of  Mr.  Turnbull.  The  author  has  heard  Mr. 
Huger  say,  that  when  he  approached  the  combatants,  he 
found  that  Mr.  Turnbull  was  being  strangled,  and  that 
he  then  resorted  to  the  same  method  of  throttling  to  save 
Mr.  Turnbull's  life.  While  in  the  performance  of  this 
humane  duty,  he  heard  some  one,  from  an  upper  window 
of  the  Oourt  House  exclaim :  "  D — n  it,  Huger,  let  Mac- 
key  kill  him  !" 

On  the  28th  September,  1812,  the  size  of  the  Investiga- 
tor was  increased  about  one-third.  A  "  Tory  mob"  as  the 
editor  termed  it,  attacked  the  office  of  this  paper  on  the 
afternoon  of  Saturday,  3rd  October,  1812.  "  Tertia"  or 
"  Great  Primer"  was  the  type  used  for  the  Investigator. 
This  journal  was,  subsequently,  sold  by  John  Mackey  to 
Isaac  Harby,  who,  in  1817,  changed  its  name  to  The 
Southern  Patriot,  and  Commercial  Advertiser . 

John  Lyde  Wilson,  of  the  Investigator,  was,  in  1822, 
elected  Governor  of  South  Carolina.  In  1842,  he  trans- 
lated in  verse,  and  published  in  octavo  form,  the  famous 
episode  of  "  Cupid  and  Psyche,"  contained  in  the  Mytho- 
logical tale  from  the  "  Golden  Ass"  of  Apuleius,  and  was 
the  author  of  "  The  Code  of  Honor,"  a  pamphlet  published 
from  the  press  of  Thomas  J.  Eccles,  Charleston,  in  March, 
1838.  Mr.  Wilson  published,  in  New  York,  about  1827, 
the  codification  of  the  laws  of  this  State.  Governor  Wil- 
son, was  regarded  as  an  extraordinary  man ;  he  was  born 


OF   CHARLESTON.   S.    C.  75 

in  Marlboro'  County,  South  Carolina,  May  24th,  1784,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Columbia,  in  1807.  His 
speeches,  political  and  legal,  were  always  compiled  with 
wonderful  arrangement  and  care.  This  lawyer,  editor  and 
Governor,  died  in  Charleston,  February  12,  1849,  and  was 
buried  with  appropriate  military  honors  in  St.  Paul's 
Church  yard. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE  SOUTHERN  PATRIOT  AND  COMMERCIAL  ADVERTISER — 
ISAAC  HARBY — ROBERT  HOWARD — JACOB  N.  CARDOZO — 
MARTIN  E.  MUXRO — THE  CHARLESTON  EVENING  NEWS — 
JOHN  CUNNINGHAM  AND  HIS  COADJUTORS — THE  SUN — 
EDWARD  SILL — H.  L.  DARR — A.  E.  MILLER — JOHN  C. 
HOFF — THE  ROSE-BUD — MRS.  CAROLINE  GILMAN — THE 
RAMBLER — DR.  JOHN  B.  IRVING. 

Mr.  Harby,  after  taking  charge  of  the  Southern  Patriot 
and  Commercial  Advertiser,  associated  with  him  Colonel 
Robert  Howard,  father  of  our  exemplary  fellow  citizens 
and  cotton  brokers,  Messrs.  S.  L.  Howard  &  Bro.  Mr. 
Harby  withdrew  from  The  Southern  Patriot  and  Com- 
mercial Advertiser,  on  the  6th  October,  1822,  in  favor  of 
Colonel  Howard,  who  changed  its  title  to  The  Southern 
Patriot.  Col.  Howard  was,  for  several  years,  debenture 
and  abstract  clerk  of  the  Customs,  and  was  the  proprietor 
of  a  Reading  Room,  located  in  the  second  story  of  the 
building  at  the  South  West  corner  of  Broad  and  East  Bay 
Streets.  This  Reading  Room  was  formally  opened  to  the 
merchants  on  the  31st  December,  1831.  To  Col.  Howard 
does  the  credit  belong  of  having  commenced  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Prices  Current  or  weekly  resume  of  the  markets, 
in  tabular  form.  He  died  while  Naval  Officer  of  the  Cus- 
toms, February  20,  1850,  in  the  79th  year  of  his  age,  and 
was  buried  in  St.  Philips'  Church  yard. 

Isaac  Harby  was  born  in  Charleston,  November  9, 1788, 


78  TIIE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

He  was  the  eldest  son  of  Solomon  Harby,  of  Georgetown, 
South  Carolina.  Mr.  Harby  was  fond  of  controversy,  and 
had  few,  if  any,  superiors.  He  was  a  popular  essayist, 
persuasive  orator,  and  the  writer  of  several  dramas.  Se- 
lections from  his  writings  were  made  and  published  in 
single  octavo,  in  the  year  1829,  edited  by  Abraham 
Moise,  of  this  City.  Failing  in  his  efforts,  in  1825,  to 
establish  a  paper  to  be  called  The  Examiner,  Mr.  Harby 
left  Charleston,  in  June,  1828,  and  became  a  resident  of 
New  York  City.  The  scene  of  his  anticipated  success  soon 
proved  the  grave  of  his  intelligence.  He  died  in  New  York 
on  the  14th  December,  1828,  and  just  before  he  had  reach- 
ed his  40th  year.  Col.  Howard  sold  the  Patriot  to  J.  N. 
Cardozo,  on  the  1st  January,  1823.  Mr.  Cardozo  sold 
The  Patriot  to  Martin  E.  Munro,  in  April,  1845,  and 
on  retiring  from  the  editorial  chair,  he  took  leave  of  his 
patrons  in  a  neat,  feeling,  and  well  written  valedictory 
address.  Mr.  Charles  K.  Bishop  became  the  editor  of 
the  Patriot,  under  the  management  of  Mr.  Munro. 

Mr.  Cardozo  could  not  resist  the  exciting  influences 
which  journalism  caused — so  to  speak,  a  necessity  to  his 
prolific  and  astute  mind.  No  sooner  had  he  parted  with 
the  Patriot,  than  he  sent  forward  an  order  for  new  type 
and  an  outfit,  with  which  he  intended  to  establish  The 
Evening  News.  The  first  number  of  that  thoughtful  and 
well  conducted  sheet,  appeared  on  the  1st  October,  1845. 
His  re-appearance  as  a  journalist  increased,  rather  than 
allayed  the  bitterness  of  feeling  which  existed  between 
Mr.  Munro  and  himself.  It  made  them  warm  opponents 
in  journalism.  Both  ignored  the  fact  that  from  the  edito- 
rial sanctum,  diatribes  should  not  emanate.  Whatever 
differences  of  political  opinion  may  have  existed  between 
them  as  public  journalists,  these  could  afford  no  valid  rea- 
son for  the  employment  of  personally  reproachful  and  dis- 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  79 

respectful  terms,  in  their  newspaper  contests.  Let  oppos- 
ing editors  differ — let  positions  be  attacked  and  defend- 
ed— assumptions  either  maintained  or  refuted — all  may 
be  accomplished  in  that  spirit  of  courtesy  which  should 
regulate  the  intercourse  between  men.  It  behooves  every 
editor  to  bestir  himself  for  his  country,  and  his  country's 
interests.  It  is  equally  incumbent  upon  him  to  perform 
the  duty  in  a  manner  that  will  reflect  no  discredit  upon 
his  profession,  and  to  keep  up  an  amiable  and  creditable 
esprit  de  corps.  This  duty,  no  honorable  supervisor  of  a 
public  press  should  lose  sight  of.  When  a  public  journal 
is  diverted  from  its  proper  mission,  to  that  of  private  dis- 
putes and  differences,  its  power  becomes  greatly  weakened 
and  perverted. 

In  an  essay  on  "  The  Courtesies,  Duties,  and  Delinquen- 
cies of  Journalism,"  published  in  the  Courier,  in  the  spring 
of  1867,  the  author  endeavored  more  fully  to  define  the 
delinquency  here  alluded  to. 

The  building  at  the  corner  of  Broad  and  East  Bay 
Streets,  referred  to  in  a  preceding  page,  has,  within  the 
author's  recollection,  been  occupied,  first  by  R.  L.  Baker, 
druggist ;  by  A.  Jordan,  an  extensive  dealer  in  fruit, 
segars  and  willow  ware ;  by  Amos  Head,  in  1844-5,  as  a 
book  and  literary  depot ;  by  Messrs.  Courtenay  and 
Wienges,  who  bought  out  Mr.  Head,  and  were  his  succes- 
sors, and  who  occupied  the  site  until  it  was  demolished  in 
the  year  1853.  In  pulling  down  that  structure  to  give 
place  to  the  imposing  brown  stone  edifice,  now  the  proper-" 
ty  of  Messrs.  George  A.  Trenholm  &  Son,  a  portion  of 
the  wall  fell,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  13th  July,  1853, 
instantly  killing  Mr.  John  Johnson,  mortally  wounding 
Mr.  James  Maher,  and  slightly  injuring  other  operatives. 

From  this  locality,  to  Line  Street,  there  was  established, 
21st  October,  1833,  a  regular  line  of  omnibusses,  which  re- 


80  THE    NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

turned  from  each  extremity,  alternate  half  hours.  Pas- 
Bengere  were  "taken  up  and  set  down."  The  fare  was 
12 J  cents,  or  ten  tickets  for  $1, 

Let  us  revert,  however,  to  our  original  subject,  and  turn 
over  a  few  additional  leaves  of  history,  to  catch  in  their 
rustlings,  some  voices  of  the  past  that  may  wisper  tidings 
of  interest,  or  awake  the  slumberings  of  memory.  It  was 
of  Mr.  Cardozo  we  were  speaking.  The  feeble  form  of 
this  able,  though  most  aged  of  Southern  editors,  is  still  to  be 
seen,  and  until  recently,  almost  daily  in  the  neighborhood 
of  his  ancient,  but  now  abdicated  seat  of  authority.  This 
gentleman,  so  well  and  favorably  known,  was  born  in  Sa- 
vannah, Georgia,  on  the  17th  day  of  June,  1786.  He  came 
to  Charleston  with  his  parents,  when  about  eight  years  old. 
After  serving  a  long  apprenticeship  at  a  mechanical  em- 
ployment, he  was  engaged,  for  some  years,  as  a  clerk  in  a 
lumber  yard.  Subsequently,  he  took  the  position  as  acting 
editor  of  The  Southern  Patriot  under  Mr.  Robert  Howard. 
As  an  American  journalist,  he  is  a  recognized  authority  in 
Banking,  in  Commercial  Statistics  generally,  and  in  Politi- 
cal Economy.  The  several  papers  for  which  he  wrote,  and 
those  which  he  conducted,  at  different  periods  for  half  a 
century,  were  all  distinguished  for  the  able  handling  of 
these  important  subjects.  He  is  well  known  also  as  a  fre- 
quent and  discriminating  critic  of  the  drama.  The  vigor 
of  his  mind,  even  at  the  advanced  age  of  84  years,  is 
testified  in  the  fact  of  his  being  the  successful  competitor 
for  the  prize  essay  of  the  "  Charleston  Board  of  Trade," 
which  received  the  commendation  of  that  mercantile  body 
at  their  last  anniversary,  April  6,  1870.  Mr.  Cardozo 
has  returned  to  his  native  City  and  State  ;  there,  probably, 
to  remain  the  balance  of  the  few  years  yet  vouch-safed  to 
him  on  earth. 

Martin  E.  Munro,  proved  indefatigable  in  his  endeav- 


OF    CHARLESTON,    S.    C  81 

ors  to  sustain  his  paper,  the  Patriot ;  but  it  did  not  exist 
longer  than  the  close  of  1848.  It  ceased  then  to  hold  its 
place  among  the  papers  of  the  day ;  as  also  its  auxiliary 
The  Morning  Transcript,  leaving  the  field  to  The  Evening 
News.  Mr.  Muneo  was  always  profuse  in  his  acknowledg- 
ments of  the  services  of  both  his  foremen,  Barnard  Levy 
and  A.  Despoetes. 

Mr.  Cardozo  sold  The  Evening  News  to  Messrs.  Btje- 
ges  &  James,  in  the  autumn  of  1847.  Mr.  Bishop  dis- 
posed of  the  interest  he  had  in  the  paper,  and  left  Charles- 
ton shortly  after,  for  the  North,  aud  became  connected 
with  The  Newark  Eagle;  and  was,  for  several  years, 
editor  and  proprietor  of  that  journal.  Since  then  he  has 
been  connected  with  the  New  York  Dispatch,  Washing- 
ton Chronicle,  and  New  York  Weekly.  The  distinguished 
jurist,  William  D.  Porter,  was  then  called  to  the  edito- 
rial department  of  the  News.  Early  in  1848,  William 
Y.  Paxton,  purchased  an  interest  in  the  paper,  and  the 
firm  was  changed  to  Burges,  James  &  Paxton.  Messrs. 
Burges,  James  &  Paxton  sold  the  News  to  W.  Y.  Pax- 
ton and  B.  Garden  Peingle,  September  9th,  1848. 
From  the  formation  of  this  co-partnership,  Mr.  Peingle, 
who,  wielded  a  ready  and  easy  pen,  took  upon  himself 
the  editorial  responsibilities  of  the  News,  and  under  his 
auspices  the  reputation  of  that  journal  was  ably  sus- 
tained. Another  change  was  made  in  this  paper  of  so 
chequered  an  existence.  In  July,  1850,  Mr.  Pringle 
terminated  his  short  editorial  career,  and  B.  F.  Poetee, 
of  Alabama,  succeeded  him  as  editor,  and  as  a  member  of 
the  firm  of  W.  Y.  Paxton  &  Co.  Judge  Poetee  was  a 
graceful  and  discursive  writer,  familiar  with  literature 
and  politics,  as  well  as  with  law.  The  News  for  a  while 
enjoyed  the  editorial  labors  of  that  most  popular  Southern 
poet  and  author,  Pall  H.  Hayne.     Mr.  Hayne,  whose 


82  THE   NEWSPAPER  PRESS 

name  Las  added  so  much  to  the  literary  reputation  of 
the  State,  finally  took  active  charge  of  the  literary  de- 
partment, whilst  that  of  the  general  business  devolved  on 
Mr.  Paxton.  W.  Y.  Paxton,  who  had  been  connected 
with  the  paper  about  seven  years,  withdrew  from  it  Sep- 
tember 29th,  1855,  on  account  of  ill  health.  Mr.  Paxton's 
interest  was  taken  by  Col.  John  Cunningham  and  Ste- 
phen E.  Pelot.  The  Evening  News  suspended  early  in 
the  spring  of  1861,  Col.  John  Cunningham,  with  his  com- 
positors having  gone  to  Vinegar  Hill,  Morris'  Island,  in 
defence  of  Charleston.  The  paper  was  resumed  on  the 
return  of  Col.  Cunningham  and  the  workmen,  and  it  re- 
appeared May  1st,  1861.  It  died  shortly  afterwards  under 
the  proprietary  title  of  John  Cunningham  &  Co. ;  the 
silent  partners  being  James  B.  O'Reilly,  and  Francis 
J.  Green.  Stephen  E.  Pelot  withdrew  what  interest 
he  had,  but  a  short  time  before  the  suspension  of  the  paper. 
James  S.  Burges,  of  the  firm  of  Burges  &  James,  the 
second  proprietors  of  the  News,  died  in  Aiken,  South  Car- 
olina, on  the  21st  February,  1850.  Messrs.  James,  Prin- 
gle  and  Pelot  are  now  to  be  found  in  other  spheres  of 
life.  Mr.  Paxton  has  removed  to  Sumter,  S.  C,  and  has 
become  the  business  manager  of  The  Sumter  Watchman. 

John  Cunningham,  the  spirited  journalist,  and  once 
the  enthusiastic  politician,  has  bid  adieu  to  both  arenas, 
and  is  now  known  only  in  the  quiet  pursuits  of  domestic 
life,  at  his  homestead,  in  one  of  the  upper  Counties  of  this 
State.  It  was  with  this  paper  that  our  fellow-citizen,  A. 
C.  McGillivray  was  for  a  time  connected  as  reporter, 
besides  having  been  for  many  years  identified  with  various 
departments  of  the  Patriot,  Sun,  Standard  and  Daily 
News. 

The  Sun,  a  morning  paper,  was  established  September 
30,  1850,  by   Messrs.  Sill   &   Darr.     The   subscription 


OP   CHARLESTON,   S.    C.  83 

was,  four  dollars  per  annum,  ten  cents  per  week,  and  two 
cents  per  single  copy.  Dr.  Edward  Sill  retired  from 
the  Telegraph,  which  he  was  publishing  at  Columbia, 
South  Carolina,  and  came  to  Charleston  from  our  Capital. 
The  "  right  hand  of  fellowship"  was  cordially  extended  to 
both  himself  and  his  partner,  by  the  press  of  the  City. 
Mr.  Darr  is  quite  practical,  and  is  known  to  the  craft 
generally.  He  was  business  manager  for  the  paper,  and 
likewise  its  foreman.  The  mechanical  appearance  of  The 
Sun  was  neat  and  tasteful,  reflecting  credit  on  the  junior 
partner.  During  its  short  career,  it  was  edited  at  different 
times  by  Dr.  A.  G-.  Mackey,  Edward  Sill,  jr.,  Paul  H. 
Hayne,  and  finally  by  Dr.  T.  C.  Serine,  who  remained 
its  assistant  editor  until  the  paper  was  discontinued,  which 
was  on  the  28th  June,  1851. 

Though  Mr.  Cardozo  stands  at  the  head  of  the  editorial 
record,  there  are  not  to  be  found  among  the  disciples  of 
Faust,  older  representatives  than  Archibald  Edward 
Miller  and  John  Cramer  Hoff,  now  living  in  this  City. 

A.  E.  Miller,  was  born  in  Shelburn,  Nova  Scotia, 
13th  April,  1785,  and  arrived  in  Charleston,  in  1792.  He 
was  apprenticed  to  Messrs.  Harrison  &  Bowen,  before 
mentioned  as  publishers  in  this  City,  from  1794,  until  Oc- 
tober, 1804. 

Mr.  Miller,  after  having  served  a  portion  of  his  appren- 
ticeship with  Harrison  &  Bowen,  continued  it  in  the 
printing  office  of  William  P.  Young,  until  October,  1804 ; 
then  finished  a  service  of  eleven  years  with  G-.  M.  Boune- 
theau.  Mr.  Miller  took  position  as  foreman  of  the 
Courier  under  March  ant,  "Wellington  &  Co.,  succeeding 
a  Mr.  Kennard,  of  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  and 
who  had  died  on  12th  September,  1807,  of  yellow  or  stran- 
gers' fever,  in  the  29th  year  of  his  age.  Mr.  Kennard 
had  endeared  himself  to  his  acquaintances  by  the  suavity 


84  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

of  his  manners,  and  the  correctness  of  his  principles,  and 
to  his  employers,  by  his  industry.  After  having  held  the 
position  of  foreman  of  the  Courier  for  nine  years,  Mr.  Mil- 
ler established  himself  in  the  book  and  job  printing  busi- 
ness, on  the  2d  November,  1816,  and  became  eminent  as  a 
publisher.  Ever  since  that  period,  he  has  been  the  pro- 
prietor of  Miller  s  Planters  and  Merchant's  Almanac, 
Among  the  earliest  of  the  works  published  by  this  veteran 
printer,  was  William  Gilmore  Simms'  second  book  of 
poems — •"  Early  Lays."  Samuel  K.  Williams,  favorably 
known  to  the  craft,  Henry  S.  Griggs,  and  James  W.  Mc- 
Millan, (nephew  of  W.  L.  Poole,  once  publisher  of  the 
Gazette,)  are  the  only  survivors  of  those  who  were,  from 
time  to  time,  apprenticed  to  Mr.  Miller. 

John  C.  Hoff  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  in  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania,  March  7,  1795.  After  he  came  to  Charles- 
ton, he  was  apprenticed  in  the  year  1807  to  his  uncle,  John 
Hoff,  a  book- binder  and  printer.  Early  in  the  year  1818, 
Mr.  Hoff  worked  as  a  journeyman  compositor  in  the 
Courier  office.  He  went  to  Savannah  in  the  autumn  of 
1819,  and  worked  in  the  same  capacity  with  Messrs.  T.  S. 
Fell  and  Alexander  McIntyre,  under  the  firm  of  T.  S# 
Fell  &  Co.  They  were  then  the  publishers  of  The  Sa- 
vannah Republican,  a  journal,  by  one  year,  older  than  The 
Charleston  Daily  Courier. 

In  Savannah,  Mr.  Hoff  remained  until  the  close  of 
1821,  when  he  was  recalled  to  Charleston  by  his  uncle, 
John  Hoff,  and  continued  with  him  until  his  uncle's  de- 
mise, which  took  place  in  Philadelphia,  in  182G.  Phillip 
Hoff  then  took  charge  of  the  business,  and  conducted  it 
until  he  died.  Mr.  John  C.  Hoff,  succeeded  Mr.  Phillip 
Hoff,  who  was  also  his  uncle,  at  the  stand  in  Broad 
Street,  next  East  of  the  Bank  of  Charleston,  and,  until 
1858,  carried  on  the  book  and  job  printing  and  stationery 


OF    CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  85 

business,  which  was  inaugurated  by  his  senior  uncle,  John 
Hoff,  forty-five  years  before. 

The  Southern  Rose-bud,  B.  B.  Hussey  &  Co.,  publishers, 
was  a  semi-weekly  paper.  Mrs.  Caroline  Gilman  was 
the  originator  of  it.  Mrs.  Gilman  was  born  in  Boston,  and 
her  maiden  name  was  Howard.  This  talented  lady,  feel- 
ing the  importance  of  giving  to  the  youthful  mind  a  right  di- 
rection, formed  the  plan  of  issuing  a  journal  for  the  young. 
This  daughter  of  "  Modern  Athens,"  distinguished  more 
particularly  for  her  prose  writings,  carried  a  design  so 
commendable,  into  effect,  in  September,  1833.  The  Rose- 
led  was  known  from  that  time,  and  it  was  the  sprightliest 
of  the  ephemeral  publications  of  Charleston.  Well  receiv- 
ed, its  character  was  elevated  to  the  standard  of  a  highly 
influential  literary  newspaper.  Its  name  was,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1835,  changed  to  The  Southern  Rose.  Burges  & 
James  were  the  publishers  at  that  time.  In  this  paper, 
Mrs.  Gilman,  who  was  the  editor  and  author  of  a  work 
entitled  "  The  Poetry  of  Traveling  in  the  United  States," 
published  some  of  her  best  poetry,  and  most  of  her  prose 
writings. 

■The  Rambler  and  The  Bowjuet  were  also  short  lived 
papers,  though  the  former  was  a  very  sun  in  the  literary 
firmament.  This  fact  causes  it  to  be  referred  to  particu- 
larly. The  Rambler  was  devoted  to  Reviews,  Essays, 
Tales  and  Poems.  Messrs.  Miller  &  Brown  were  the 
publishers.  The  Rambler  died  March  30,  1844.  The 
elegant  and  easy  writer,  Dr.  John  B.  Irving,  toiled  un- 
ceasingly while  presiding  over  its  finances,  and  over  its 
editorial  columns. 

Dr.  Irving  was  born  in  Charleston,  and  was  sent  to 
England  by  his  parents,  in  the  early  part  of  the  present 
century,  for  the  further  benefit  of  his  education.  He  has 
thus  written  of  his  early  life : 


8G  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

"My  college  life,  which  began  at  Cambridge,  in  1808, 
"  was  full  of  incident.  I  have  chapter  after  chapter,  in 
"  my  diary  of  things  in  general,  but  of  racing  in  particular. 
"  During  my  college  term,  my  proximity  to  New  Market, 
"  that  great  Metropolis  of  the  Turf,  was  an  irresistible 
"  temptation  to  me  to  indulge  my  passion  for  the  sport 
11  that  did  most  easily  beguile  me.  I  could  not  resist  my 
11  propensity  that  way.  It  seemed  to  grow  with  my  growth, 
"  and  strengthen  with  my  strength.  I  often,  in  my  mo- 
11  ments  of  youthful  levity,  used  to  laugh  and  say,  if  I  only 
"  devoted  to  my  college  studies  the  time  I  did  to  acquire  a 
"thorough  acquaintance  with  the  "Stud  Book,"  and  a 
"  familiarity  with  pending  racing  events,  and  their  proba- 
"  ble  results,  I  could  not  fail  to  become  a  very  accomplish- 
"  ed  scholar  ;  the  pride  and  ornament  of  any  University  : 
"  but  this  alas!  was  not  to  be.  I  was  stable-minded,  it  is 
"true,  but  not  stable  enough.  Like  Reuben,  unstable  as 
"  water,  I  could  not  excel." 

Dr.  Irving  has  been  a  miscellaneous  writer  all  his  life. 
He  has  contributed  a  great  deal  to  our  daily  press,  and 
frequently  edited  the  Mercury,  in  the  absence  of  the  pro- 
prietor, Mr.  Pinckney.  It  can  truthfully  be  said,  that  in 
his  manifold  literary  writings,  he  has  never  indited  a  word 
calculated  to  injure,  or  to  give  pain  to  any  human  being. 
Dr.  Irving  is  graceful  in  elocution,  has  command  of  chaste 
and  beautiful  imagery — exquisite  humor,  pungent,  yet 
playful  satire,  and  touching  pathos.  These  endowments 
have  repeatedly  brought  tributes  of  applause  from  large 
audiences  in  this  City  and  elsewhere.  His  lectures  on 
Coleridge's  "Devil's  Walk,"  and  "  Cock  Robin,"  give  evi- 
dences of  his  grace,  originality,  and  happy  vein.  "  A  Day 
on  Cooper  River,"  proves  him  to  be  a  remarkably  spirited 
cicerone. 

The  circumstances  which  induced  Dr.  Irving  to  prepare 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  87 

and  deliver  the  lecture  on  "  Cock  Robin,"  which  has  been 
declaimed  thirty-four  times,  and  which  has  benefited  the 
charities  of  life  to  an  amount  not  less  than  $11,000,  is  men- 
tioned as  a  pleasing  episode.  The  "  Literary  and  Philo- 
sophical Society  of  South  Carolina,"  over  which  that  pure 
divine,  and  learned  ornithologist,  Reverend  John  Bach- 
man,  D.  D.,  presided,  found,  after  the  completion  of  their 
museum,  that  their  revenue  was  inadequate  to  compensate 
the  naturalist  and  chemist,  Doctor  Felix  Louis  L'Hee- 
mixiee,  member  and  correspondent  of  several  learned  so- 
cieties, who  was  especially  brought  from  Europe  for  this 
service.  It  was  then  determined  that  this  want  should  be 
met  by  means  of  a  course  of  lectures,  to  be  given  by,  some 
of  the  prominent  members  of  the  society.  Doctor  Irving 
was  one  of  the  lecturers,  in  aid  of  that  fund.  "  Cock 
Robin"  was  the  Doctor's  theme. 

s 

'"Tis  a  history 
HaDded  from  ages  down  ;  a  nurse's  tale." 

The  simplicity  of  the  subject  was  relieved  by  the  general 
splendor  of  the  production,  and  from  every  part  of  the 
"  Old  Theatre,"  on  the  night  of  the  lecture,  rang  out  uni- 
versal applause,  revealing  to  the  author  the  pleasing  assu- 
rance, that  from  a  simple  nursery  tale,  he  had  drawn  com- 
pliments from  a  large  and  delighted  auditory.  Dr.  Irving 
now  quietly  enjoys  communion  with  thoughts  pure  and 
worthy,  at  his  country  seat,  "  Kensington,"  in  St.  John's, 
Berkley,  unalloyed  by  the  promiscuous  admixtures  of  City 
life. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE  ONLY  JOURNAL  OF  THE  PAST  AND  PRESENT — FIRST 
ISSUED  AS  CHARLESTON  COURIER,  JANUARY  10,  1803 — 
LOSING   ANDREWS,  A.    S.    WILLINGTON,  S.    C.    CARPENTER, 

ITS     FOUNDERS CONTENTS      EPITOMIZED GROUND-MOLE 

PLOT B.  B.  SMITH,  F.  DALCHO,  P.    T.    MARCHANT,  1807 

JOHN  PALM. 

Of  the  several  rivals  now  contending  for  the  honors  and 
rewards  held  out  in  Charleston  to  the  press,  The  Charles- 
ton Daily  Courier,  let  it  be  remarked,  has  had  an  existence 
of  sixty-seven  years.  This  fact  is  only  referred  to  now,  as 
indicating  and  measuring,  not  so  much  its  claims,  as  a 
competitor,  but  to  show  what  should  be  its  inducements  and 
motives  to  grateful  remembrance  and  continued  exertions. 
The  field  is  ample,  both  for  duties  and  rewards,  and  it  is 
pleasing  to  state,  that  in  the  progressiveness  of  enlarged 
and  liberal  views,  it  is  fast  coming  to  be  admitted,  that  in 
the  legitimate  and  honorable  publishing  business,  the  over- 
throw of  one  competitor  is  never  necessarily  the  advance- 
ment of  another. 

The  Charleston  Daily  Courier  has  outlived  all  its  elders, 
and  many  of  its  contemporaries  in  journalism,  and  in  the 
history  of  the  press,  no  less  than  in  other  provinces  of 
thought,  action,  and  adventure,  it  has  witnessed  many 
changes.  These  changes  constitute  a  narrative  within  them- 
selves ;  which,  did  space  permit,  it  would  be  exceedingly 
interesting  still  further  to  dwell  upon. 


90  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

The  Courier  began  its  commercial  career  on  the  10th 
day  of  January,  1803,  sixty-seven  years  ago,  through  the 
energy  of  Aaron  Smith  "Wellington.  This  gentleman 
was  born  in  the  Town  of  Weyland,  Massachusetts,  on  the 
12th  March,  1781.  In  1802,  just  after  reaching  his  ma- 
jority, he  came  to  Charleston.  It  was  at  the  pressing 
solicitations  of  Loring  Andrews,  also  of  Massachusetts, 
that  Mr.  Willington,  the  friend  of  Mr.  Andrews,  came 
to  dwell  in  the  Southern  quarter  of  the  Union.  Mr.  Wil- 
lington's  purpose  was  to  superintend  the  mechanical  de- 
partment of  a  paper  that  Mr.  Andrews  intended  to  estab- 
lish, to  supply  the  place  of  the  South  Carolina  State  Ga- 
zette; a  journal  which  had  just  finished  its  career,  in  the 
family  of  newspapers.  These  gentlemen,  on  their  arrival  in 
Charleston,  found  another  candidate  for  newspaper  honors, 
in  Stephen  Cullen  Carpenter.  Mr.  Carpenter  was 
an  Irish  gentleman,  advantageously  known  as  having  been, 
at  one  time,  a  writer  for  the  periodical  press  of  London ; 
reporter  of  the  parliamentary  proceedings,  during  the  trial 
consequent  upon  the  impeachment  exhibited  against  War- 
ren Hastings*  by  the  English  Government,  which  began 
in  the  spring  of  1788,  and  the  author  of  the  "  Overland 
Journey  to  India,"  under  the  assumed  name  of  Donald 
Campbell.  Mr.  Carpenter  was  a  federalist  in  politics, 
and  quite  active  in  arranging  for  the  establishment  of  a 
political  journal.  At  that  time,  an  effort  made  to  main- 
tain two  daily  papers  would,  in  the  opinion  of  those  inter- 
ested, terminate  in  the  failure  of  both.  Wisely  was  it, 
then,  that  Messrs.  Andrews  and  Carpenter  determined 
to  combine  both  enterprises.  This  adjustment  produced 
the  Charleston  Courier,  on  the  day  already  mentioned,  from 


*  Warren  Hastings,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  speech  made  by  Edmund 
Burke  on  that  occasion  remarked  :  "  I  thought,  for  about  half  an  hour,  that 
I  was  the  greatest  villain  in  the  world." 


OF    CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  91 

their  office.  No.  6  Craft's  South  Range,  (Adger's  South 
Wharf.)  The  tri-weekly,  or  country  edition  of  this  paper 
was  not  instituted  until  April  16,  1804. 

In  the  first  number  of  the  Courier  is  the  "  Prospectus," 
one  column  in  length.  We  find,  as  prominent  articles  among 
the  reading  matter,  Congressional  proceedings ;  an  epito- 
mized comparison  between  the  monarchical  and  the  consular 
despotism  of  France ;  British  domestic  intelligence ;  mis- 
cellaneous matter,  and  a  lengthy  editorial  on  the  subject 
of  "Intolerance."  It  concludes  with  the  annexed  sig- 
nificant paragraph,  in  which  are  occurrences  the  editor 
seemed  to  have  anticipated,  and  which  have  since  come  to 
pass : 

"  Against  the  worst  of  abominations  and  mischiefs,  with 
"  which  this  growing  spirit  of  intolerance  if  not  resisted 
"  must  ultimately  overwhelm  and  trample  down  the  coun- 
"try,  unhinge  the  public  policy,  corrupt  the  morals  and 
11  brutalise  the  manners  of  the  people,  and  extinguish  all 
11  the  decencies  and  tender  charities  which  invigorate,  while 
"  they  soften  the  human  heart,  we  shall  in  some  future 
11  number  endeavor  to  warn  the  citizens  of  the  United 
11  States.  To  moderate,  not  to  inflame — to  mediate  and 
"  heal,  not  exasperate — to  fill  up  the  hideous  gulph  which 
"  now  yawns  across  the  commonwealth  dividing  one  por- 
"  tion  of  the  people  from  the  other,  shall  be  the  object  of 
"  our  strenous  efforts  as  it  is  of  our  most  anxious  wishes. 
"Were  the  former  as  potent  as  the  latter  is  sincere,  there 
"  would  soon  be  in  this  country  but  one  heart,  one  hand, 
11  one  sentiment,  and  one  voice — and  that  voice  would  pro- 
"  claim  to  the  world — America  is,  and  ever  shall  be  a 
"  Confederated  Republic." 

In  the  advertising  columns  of  this  first  number,  there 
are  the  sales  at  auction  advertisements  of  Veree  &  Blair, 
David  Lopez;   Scott,  Campbell  &  Co. ;   Wm.  Holmes  & 


92  THE   NEWSPAPEE   PBESS 

Co.;  Wm.  Hobt, and  Oha.bles Lining, executors, who  ad- 
vertised for  Bale  the  lands  belonging  to  the  Right  Reverend 
Doctor  Smith.  Jno.  Gillis,  who  offered  five  dollars  reward 
for  John  Williams,  a  runaway  from  the  schooner  Garland. 
Among  the  most  prominent  of  those  who  conducted  the 
grocery  business,  were  Crocker  &  Highborn,  Thomas  & 
Flecher,  Joseph  Winthrop,  J.  M.  Davis,  and  McKenzie 
&  McNeill.  Of  the  vessels  ready  for  London  and  Liver- 
pool there  were  eight ;  for  freight  or  charter,  five,  and  were 
advertised  by  J.  Winthrop,  Crocker  &  Hiciiborn,  Tunno 
&  Cox,  J.  &  J.  Hargraves,  Bailey  &  Walker,  David 
McTaggart,  Gillespie  &  Mackay,  W.  &  E.  Crafts, 
John  Haslett.  Nathaniel  Ingraham  advertised  for 
sale  "  the  house  the  subscriber  now  resides  in,  situated  in 
King  Street,  near  South  Bay."  W.  Wightman  had  a 
column  advertisement  in  this  first  number,  and  therein  an- 
nounced, "  an  elegant  and  fashionable  assortment  of  sterling 
plate,  gold  and  silver  watches,  rich  jewelry,  plated  goods, 
etc."  The  marine  news  consisted  of  six  vessels  arrived,  and 
five  sailed. 

In  the  same  issue,  there  is  given  an  account  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  Congress,  of  December  23,  1802,  in  wmich  is  a 
message  from  Mr.  Jefferson,  then  President,  giving  in- 
formation with  regard  to  the  violation  of  the  treaties  with 
the  United  States  on  the  part  of  Spain,  and  conveying, 
among  other  papers,  letters  from  our  consul  at  New  Or- 
leans. Since  then  the  territory  of  France  and  Spain  on 
this  continent,  has  not  only  been  ceded  to  the  United 
States,  but  also  out  of  that  territory  great  and  powerful 
States  of  this  Union  have  been  formed.  The  Courier  has 
seen  in  the  course  of  a  life  of  sixty-seven  years,  nations 
rise  and  fall.  It  chronicled  the  triumph  and  descent  of  the 
•first  Napoleon.  It  announced  the  trampling  by  France  upon 
Germany.     Events  have  indeed  taken  a  turn.     Germany 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  03 

has  been  avenged,  her  hosts  have  heavily  pressed  the  soil  of 
France.  It  recorded  the  first  notes  of  secession  which  were 
sounded  in  New  England  by  Josiah  Qulncy,  and  by  the 
Hartford  Convention,  and  it  subsequently  heard  New  Eng- 
land's denouncement  of  State  Eights  in  every  shape  and 
form.  It  mentioned  the  fact  that  New  England  slavers 
brought  Africans  to  Charleston  for  sale,  and  subsequently 
reported  New  England's  condemnation  of  the  very  act  in- 
augurated by  herself,  and  through  which  she  had  acquired 
wealth .  It  lived  in  the  times  which  enabled  it  deservedly 
to  extol  such  men  as  Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison, 
Monroe,  Adams,  Cheves,  Eutledge,  Lowndes,  Cal- 
houn, Webster,  and  Clay.  It  lives  to-day  to  herald 
with  deep  humiliation,  the  workings  of  a  self  aggrandizing 
President  like  Grant,  politicians  like  Morton,  and  Gov- 
ernors like  Bullock,  Holden  and  Scott. 

In  literature,  it  has  seen  the  rise  and  success  of  Cole- 
ridge, Wordsworth,  Sir  Walter  Scott,  Cowper,  By- 
ron, Tennyson  and  Moore,  among  English  Poets;  Sir 
William  Hamilton,  the  Herschells,  Humphrey  Da- 
vy, and  Sir  David  Brewster,  among  English  Philoso- 
phers; Dickens,  Bulwer,  Thackeray  and  George  El- 
iot, among  English  Novelists  ;  Hallam  and  Macauley, 
among  English  Historians.  It  has  seen  the  genius  of  the 
new  world  begin  with  nothing  of  value,  yet  produce  such 
men  as  Whitney,  Washington  Irving,  Poe,  Bryant, 
Cooper,  Kennedy,  Bancroft,  and  our  own  Simms. 

American  art  was  then  unknown.  How  is  it  to-day  ? 
The  works  of  Alston,  Benjamin  West,  Stuart,  Fra- 
ser  and  Bounetheau,  reply.  Others,  too,  we  might  men- 
tion, have  won  admiration  from  all  who  love  the  beautiful 
and  admire  genius. 

The  subsequent  publishing  localities  of  the  Courier  were 
at  No.  1  Broad  Street,  to  which  place  it  was  removed  May 


94  THE    NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

7th.  1800  ;  tlien  to  No.  28,  North  side  of  Broad  Street,  just 
"West  of  State  Street ;  then  further  East,  and  near  the  Bay  ; 
then  on  the  South  side  of  Broad  Street,  "West  corner  of 
Gadsden's  Alley.  There,  it  was  published  during  the 
second  war  with  Great  Britain,  which  lasted  from  1812  to 
1815. 

The  Courier  when  first  issued,  had  for  its  superscription, 
11  Printed  by  A.  S.  Willington  for  Loring  Andrews." 
It  was  printed  on  paper  of  demy  size,  19  by  22  inches, 
each  page  containing  four  columns ;  dimensions  very  cir- 
cumscribed, when  compared  with  the  "  Map  of  busy  life," 
which  is  now  spread  before  the  public.  In  its  early  num- 
bers, there  was  marked  reticence  of  the  publishers  on  per- 
sonal or  local  matters. 

It  is  a  fact  highly  creditable,  and  worthy  of  mention, 
that  in  all  cases  of  emergency  in  former  days,  the  mer- 
chants— a  class  of  men  high-toned  and  indefatigable  in  bu- 
siness, free,  open  and  generous  in  their  manner  of  conduct- 
ing it — together  with  the  astute  politicians,  invariably  came 
forward  to  the  aid  of  our  City  press,  not  leaving  editors  to 
sustain  a  cause  alone.  In  all  such  cases,  the  press  of  South 
Carolina,  more  so  perhaps  than  elsewhere,  poured  forth  a 
profusion  of  intellect. 

Co-eval  with  the  early  issues  of  the  Courier,  there  was 
brought  to  light  one  of  the  most  novel  attempts  at  rob- 
bery, ever  known  in  Charleston,  and  which  produced  much 
excitement  at  the  time.  The  circumstances  of  the  case — 
known  as  the  "  Ground-mole  Plot" — were  familiar  to  two, 
now  among  the  most  venerable  of  the  citizens  of  Charles- 
ton, who  then,  with  young  and  eager  eyes,  witnessed 
the  scene.  From  notes  made  by  one  of  them,  entitled, 
11  Occurrences  of  my  early  Life,"  the  modus  operandi  of 
the  would-be  bank  robber  is  taken  and  thus  related  :  The 
gentleman,  then  an  apprentice  to  a  mechanical  concern, 


OF   CHARLESTON.    S.    C.  95 

was  attracted  to  the  scene  by  the  wide-spread  rumor,  and 
informed  that  there  had  just  been  dug  out  from  the  earth, 
a  human  ground-mole,  who  was  industriously  attempting 
to  rob  the  South  Carolina  Bank,  then  located  in  the  build- 
ing now  occupied  by  the  Charleston  Library  Society,  at 
the  North  West  corner  of  Broad  and  Church  Streets.    The 
man — Withers,  by  name — was  discovered  in  the  effort, 
and  arrested  before  he  had  effected  his  purpose.     He  was 
of  middle  size,  and  had,  as  his  accomplice,  a  youth,  who 
made  his  escape.    Withers  was  arraigned  for  this  attempt 
to  plunder,  but  not  having  accomplished  his  design,  was 
released  from  confinement.     The  examination  of  this  case 
showed  that  he   came   from  the  West,   and  that  he  had 
visited  the  City  with  a  drove  of  horses,  and  having  dis- 
posed  of  them,    unfortunately   lost    all    his  proceeds    by 
gaming.     Desiring  to  recover  his  losses,  he  conceived  the 
idea  of  so  doing,  at   the    expense  of   others.     A   project 
entertained  by  him  was  carried  into  effect  one  night  in  Oc- 
tober, 1802,  by  his  entering  the  drain  at  the  intersection  of 
Broad  and  Church  Streets,  which,  under  the  old  system  of 
drainage,  could  be  entered  by  the  removal  of  an  iron  grat- 
ing.    Once   in,  he  tunneled   a  passage  to  within  a  short 
distance  of  the  bank  vault.     The    strangest   part  of   his 
feat  was,  that  he  remained  earthed  for  the  space  of,  at  least, 
three  months.     The  discovery  of  the  plot — through  the  in- 
cautiousness  of  the  youth — defeated  one  of  the  boldest  and 
most  novel  methods  of  tapping  the  strong  box  of  a  moneyed 
institution,  ever  brought  to  light. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1805,  less  than  three  years  after 
the  first  publication  of  the  Charleston  Courier,  Mr.  An- 
drews, who  had  an  ardent  affection  for  those  sweet  heart 
affinities,  known  by  the  name  of  parent,  brother  and  sis- 
ter, having  resolved  to  return  home,  parted  with  the  inter- 
est he   had  in  the  Courier   establishment  to  Benjamin 


96  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

Burgh  Smith.  Mr.  Andrews,  before  lie  came  to  Charles- 
ton, was  the  editor,  successively,  of  The  Herald  of  Free- 
dom, Boston,  and  The  Western  Star,  of  Stockbridge,  Mas- 
sachusetts. While  preparing  to  return  North,  he  was  ta- 
ken sick,  and  died  on  the  19th  October,  1805,  at  the  early- 
age  of  38  years,  having  retired  from  the  Courier  but  a  few 
months  before.  Mr.  Andrews  was  gifted  to  a  high  degree 
with  all  those  qualities  which  make  men  useful  to  society, 
and  estimable  in  private  life  ;  his  manners,  plain,  frank, 
and  unaffected,  showed  sincerity,  which  he  possessed  in  an 
uncommon  degree.  In  the  cemetery  of  the  Unitarian 
Church  of  this  City,  where  mortality  ends,  but  where 
"  there  is  no  death  but  change,  soul  claspeth  soul,"  Lor- 
ing  Andrews,  fourth  son  of  Joseph  Andrews,  of  Hing- 
ham,  Massachusetts,  was  buried,  aye,  forgotten,  save  by 
one  fair  and  faithful  hand,  whose  unceasing  duty  it  is  to 
commemorate  the  spot.  "  No  flowers  so  fair,  no  buds  so 
sweet"  as  those  which  bedeck  the  grave  of  him,  who  died 
so  soon  after  the  forming  period  of  life. 

In  the  fall  of  1805  the  Courier  appeared,  published  by 
Benjamin  Burgh  Smith  &  Co.  Mr.  S.  C.  Carpenter 
was  the  Company. 

It  was  on  the  10th  of  January,  1806,  that  Mr.  Smith 
retired  from  the  firm,  in  the  fourth  year  of  the  paper's  ex- 
istence ;  the  firm  then  became  Marchant,  Willington 
&  Co.  "  The  Wreath  or  the  Rod"  was  the  motto  of  the 
paper,  and  it  was  placed  under  the  sub-title. 

Mr.  Smith  was  a  federalist  in  politics.  He  was  remark- 
able for  his  wit,  as  well  as  his  talent.  This  same  position 
insured  good  breeding,  and  a  respect  for  the  opinions  of 
others.  He  was  distinguished  for  a  courteous  method  of 
expression,  now,  unhappily,  too  scantily  possessed  by  the 
press  militant.  This  gentleman  died  in  Charleston,  of 
country  fever,  on  the  2d  day  of  June,  1823,  aged  47  years. 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  97 

Messrs.  Marchant,  Carpenter,  Dalcho,  and  Willing- 
ton,  the  individual  members  of  the  firm,  were,  also,  the  edi- 
tors. In  their  salutatory  address  to  the  public,  at  that 
period,  appears  the  following  exposition  of  their  future 
course  as  journalists,  to  wit :  *  *  *  *  *  "  Their  labors  will 
"  still  be  the  same  ;  namely,  to  maintain  the  Federal  Con- 
"  stitution  inviolate,  pure,  and  uncorrupted,  generally  ;  to 
"  defend,  as  far  as  they  can,  the  cause  of  Christianity, 
*'  order,  and  good  government,  and  to  oppose  every  attempt 
"  that  may  be  made,  to  pervert  the  sound  principles,  or 
11  contaminate  the  morals  of  the  community.  *  *  *  *  *  The 
"  new  proprietors  have  not  only  pledged  themselves,  that 
"  the  foregoing  is  to  be  simply  and  unequivocally  their  ob- 
ject; to  which  they  not  only  bind  themselves,  but  have 
"  devised  means  to  bind  those  who  may  hereafter  possess 
"  the  property  of  the  paper.  Support  or  hostility  to  par- 
"  ticular  parties,  merely  as  such,  or  to  particular  men,  ex- 
"  cept  as  they  affect  or  are  affected  by  the  general  princi- 
"  pies,  avowed,  is  entirely  out  of  the  scope  of  their  views. 
"  Abhorrent  of  personal  calumny,  or  vulgar  scurrility, 
"  they  promise  that  their  columns  shall  never  be  stained 
"  by  any  invective  or  indecorous  allusion  that  can  wound 
"  the  feelings  of  the  most  sensitive  individual,  unless  the 
"  fair,  manly  discussion  of  affairs,  merely  national,  shall 
"have  that  effect."  Mr.  Wellington  was  then,  for  the 
first  time,  known  as  proprietor. 

On  the  1st  of  November,  1806,  this  firm  published  a 
weekly  organ,  called  the  Carolina  Weekly  Messenger,  but 
it  did  not  succeed  in  getting  hold  of  the  public  mind,  and 
hence  it  failed.  On  the  4th  of  the  same  month  and  year, 
the  first  supplement  ever  published  by  the  Courier,  made 
its  appearance,  though  these  appendices  had  appeared  in 
other  journals,  certainly  thirty  years  before.  This  supple- 
ment of  the  Courier  contained  an  Ordinance  of  the  City, 


98  TIIE   NEWSPAPER  PRESS 

regulating  the  City  Guard.  It  was  a  document  of  some 
length,  and  signed  by  John  Dawson,  jr.,  then  Intendant. 
In  that  supplement,  there  was,  also,  a  proclamation  from 
the  Intendant,  requiring  "  all  owners  and  occupants  of 
"  houses  within  the  City,  to  put  one  or  more  lights  against 
11  every  window  fronting  the  streets,  whenever  fire  or 
11  other  alarms  may  occur  in  the  night  time." 

S.  C.  Carpenter  withdrew  from  the  firm  of  Marchant, 
Wellington  &  Co.,  on  the  9th  of  July,  1806,  and  in  the 
summer  of  the  same  year  removed  to  New  York  City, 
wThere  he  bought  out  The  Daily  Advertiser,  published  in 
that  City,  and  began,  on  the  1st  January,  1807,  the  publi- 
cation of  a  half-weekly,  called  the  People  s  Friend  and 
Daily  Advertiser.  Mr.  Carpenter  pledged  himself  in  the 
prospectus  of  that  paper  that  "  its  columns  shall  never 
"  inflict  an  unnecessary,  or  unprovoked  sting,  in  the  heart 
"  of  any  individual,  nor  contain  a  line  to  wound  the  bosom 
11  of  integrity  or  innocence,  or  to  bring  a  blush  into  the 
"  cheek  of  modesty."  Sentiments  truly  noble,  but  seldom 
regarded  now  by  journalists.  The  encouragement  this  pa- 
per received  outstripped  the  expectations  of  the  proprietor. 
To  Philadelphia  Mr.  Carpenter  went  in  1811,  and  while 
there,  became  the  publisher  of  a  magazine,  named  the 
Monthly  Register  and  Review.  In  the  same  year,  there 
was  published  in  England,  in  six  volumes,  duodecimo,  the 
works  of  S.  C.  Carpenter.  They  consisted  of  treatises 
upon  various  subjects:  Essays,  Moral,  Critical,  and  His- 
torical ;  Poems  ;  Translations  and  Letters  upon  interesting 
subjects.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  these  works  cannot  be 
found,  so  far  as  is  known,  in  either  of  our  libraries.  Mr. 
Carpenter  also  started  The  Bureau,  or  Repository  of  Lit- 
erature, Politics  and  Intelligence,  but  that  Magazine  was 
not  a  success.  From  Philadelphia  he  went  to  Washington 
City,  in  the  summer  of  1818,  where  he  obtained  an  appoint- 


OF   CHARLESTON.    S.    C.  99 

merit  as  book-keeper  for  the  Quarter  Master's  Department. 
This  was  not  accomplished,  however,  without  a  change  of 
political  sentiment,  for  he  became,  at  least  in  profession, 
a  violent  republican.  Mr.  Carpenter  was  not  without 
his  enemies ;  and  the  feeling  was  so  intense  against  him, 
that  in  a  published  letter  from  Washington,  dated  July 
26th,  to  the  editor  of  the  Baltimore  Patriot,  he  was  styled 
"  the  notorious  Stephen  Cullen  Carpenter."  He  was, 
the  letter  adds,  "  placed  in  a  position  to  the  exclusion  of 
native  worth  and  talent."  Several  of  the  clerks  declared 
they  would  leave  the  public  service,  if  Carpenter  received 
an  appointment  in  the  office  where  they  were.  Mr.  Car- 
penter died  in  1820,  of  a  chronic  disease,  after  two  years 
residence  in  "Washington. 

There  is  printed,  from  the  London  Courier  of  September 
30th,  1806,  in  The  Charleston  Courier  of  the  5th  January, 
1807,  the  account  of  the  execution  of  John  Palm,  by  com- 
mand of  Bonaparte.  This  murder  excited,  in  a  peculiar 
degree,  the  attention  of  the  English  people.  It  was  a  di- 
rect blow  given  to  the  "  Liberty  of  the  Press" — the  magi- 
cian which  works  wonders — the  medium  which  transforms 
the  night  of  superstition  into  the  noontide  of  truth. 

John  Palm  was  a  book  publisher,  and  for  selling  a  work 
containing  "  Free  strictures  on  the  conduct  of  Bonaparte," 
was  dragged  from  a  city  under  the  protection  of  Prussia, 
tried  by  a  military  commission,  and  shot  in  the  Austrian 
City  of  Brannau.  The  conduct  of  Palm,  in  vindicating 
the  utility  of  the  press,  was  most  gallant.  He  was  offered 
his  pardon  upon  condition  that  he  would  give  up  the  name 
of  the  author.  This  he  refused  to  do.  The  opportunity 
was  again  offered  him  at  the  place  of  execution ;  but  his 
reply  was,  "  that  he  would  rather  die  than  betray  the 
author."  He.  was  immediately  shot.  With  the  view  of 
intimidating  others,  six  thousand  copies  of  the  sentence  of 


100  THE   NEWSPAPER  PRESS. 

the  tribunal  were  circulated  over  the  Continent.  In  re- 
turn, several  patriots  subscribed  largely  for  the  publication 
and  distribution  of  sixty  thousand  copies  of  the  letter  writ- 
ten by  Palm  to  his  wife,  from  the  military  prison  of  Bran- 
nau,  dated  the  26th  August,  1806,  6  o'clock,  in  the  morn- 
ing. In  that  letter  Palm  instructed  his  wife  to  collect,  as 
soon  as  possible,  the  wreck  of  his  fortune,  and  with  it  retire 
to  America,  "in  which  land,"  he  said,  "innocence  is  still 
secure,  and  patriotism  is  yet  revered." 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE  COURIER  TO  1809 — EDMUND  MORFORD — THE  EMBAR- 
GO— THE  BURNING  OF  PLACIDE's  THEATRE,  RICHMOND — 
THE  COURIER'S  EAST  BAY  LOCATION — ISIDORE  GAND- 
OUIN — THE  COMMERCIAL  TREATY — MR.  WILLINGTON  AS 
BOARDING  OFFICER — INCIDENTS — JOSEPH  PREYOST  AND 
HIS  SUCCESSORS — ELFORD's    OBSERVATORY. 

From  January,  1808,  to  January,  1809,  though  the  title ' 
of  the  paper,  the  career  of  which  we  now  record,  was  the 
Charleston  Courier,  yet  the  sub-title  on  the  second  page, 
for  the  length  of  time  above  mentioned,  read  Courier  and 
Mt  rcantile  Advertiser.  The  Courier  was,  at  that  time,  ex- 
ceeded only  by  one  or  two  daily  papers  on  the  continent. 

Peter  Timothy  Marchant,  who  was  a  grandson  of 
Peter  Timothy,  withdrew  from  the  paper,  January,  1808. 
Mr.  AVillington  and  Doctor  Dalcho  remained,  under  the 
firm  of  A.  S.  Wellington  &  Co. 

On  the  3d  July,  1809,  Mr.  E.  Morford,  a  bookseller, 
whose  store  was  the  great  literary  centre  of  the  City,  and 
who  was,  as  will  be  seen,  the  founder  of  the  Mercury, 
became  an  associate  editor,  and  one  of  the  proprietors  of 
the  Courier,  the  firm  then  assuming  the  title  of  E.  Mor- 
ford, Wellington  &  Co.  This  firm  established  and  con- 
ducted a  Pleading  Room,  second  in  importance  to  that  estab- 
lished by  PiOBERT  Howard,  (already  noticed)  in  the  City. 
They  were  also  extensively  engaged  in  the  traffic  of  patent 
medicines,  and  material  appertaining  to   the  book  trade. 


L02  the  Newspaper  press 

It  was  in  MoEFORD,  Willington  &  Co's  Reading  Room 
that  the  "  Franklin  Society,"  which  was  established  in 
1813,  held  their  meetings. 

On  the  1st  July,  1812,  the  proprietors  of  the  Courier, 
Messrs.  Morford,  Willington  &  Co.,  announced  that  the 
paper  would  be  reduced  to  half  a  sheet,  in  consequence  of 
the  difficulty  of  procuring  paper.  The  non-intercourse  act 
produced  this  abridgment. 

The  embargo*  soon  followed.  The  bill  for  an  embargo 
of  sixty  days,  was  carried  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States,  on  3d  April,  1812.  Having  passed 
the  Senate,  the  bill  was  ratified  by  President  Madison,  on 
the  4th  of  the  same  month.  This  was  the  precursor  of  de- 
termined war,  after  a  peace  of  nine  and  twenty  years. 
The  President's  proclamation  supervened.  It  was  declar- 
ing a  state  of  war  existing  between  the  "  United  Kingdom 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  the  Dependencies  there- 
of, and  the  United  States,  and  their  Territories,"  and  was 
dated  at  Washington,  on  the  19th  June,  1812.  War  was 
formally  proclaimed  in  Charleston,  in  compliance  with  the 
President's  proclamation,  at  12  M.,  June  26,  1812,  by  Na- 
thaniel Greene  Cleary,  Sheriff  of  the  District,  "  accom- 
panied by  beat  of  drum." 

On  the  1st  October,  1812,  the  Courier  resumed  its  for- 
mer size,  arrangements  for  a  supply  of  paper  having  been 
perfected  with  a  factory  in  a  neighboring  State. 

The  columns  of  the  City  papers  at  this  period,  December, 
1812,  are  filled  with  recitals  of  that  distressing  catastro- 


*  The  embargo  was  the  result  of  the  unsettled  differences  with  Great  Brit- 
ain, and  the  imperious  demands  of  France.  It  was  a  measure  of  general 
precaution.  John  Randolph  was  said  to  be  the  father  of  it.  This  inhibi- 
tion of  the  departure  of  our  vessels  from  the  ports  of  the  United  States, 
"was  removed,"  Mr.  Jefferson  has  said,  "solely  to  quiet  the  excitement  in 
New  England." 


OF    CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  103 

phe,  the  burning  of   Placide's  Theatre,   Pdchmond,  Vir- 
ginia. 

So  distressing  are  the  accounts  of  that  calamity,  and  so 
great  was  the  lamentation  which  immediately  followed, 
throughout  the  States,  that  a  description  of  an  occurrence 
so  tragical  in  its  results,  will  here  be  attempted. 

Seven  hundred  persons  were  estimated  as  being  in  the 
theatre,  at  the  time  the  announcement  was  made  that  the 
building  was  on  fire.  It  was  the  night  of  Placide's  bene- 
fit ;  and  the  pantomime  of  the  "  Bleeding  Nun"  was  being 
performed.  After  the  fire,  which  was  accidental,  one  hun- 
dred dead  bodies  were  taken  from  under  the  ruins ;  fifty 
more,  it  was  supposed,  were  burned  up,  and  many  persons 
were  seriously  injured.  Soon  after  the  terrible  event,  Mr. 
Placide  wrote  to  many  of  the  theatrical  managers  in  other 
cities,  earnestly  requesting  them  to  alter  their  theatres, 
that  every  facility  should  be  offered  to  enable  the  audience 
to  leave  such  places,  speedily,  in  cases  of  alarm. 

The  proprietors  of  the  Old  Theatre,  situated  at  what  was 
then  the  western  extremity  of  Broad  Street,  West  corner  of 
New  Street,  in  this  City,  acted  promptly  on  the  suggestion 
of  Mr.  Placide.  Such  alteration  was  then  made  in  that 
structure,  as  gave  thirteen  outlets  to  the  large  audience, 
which  assembled,  not  long  afterwards,  at  that  popular  place 
of  amusement,  to  witness  the  performances  in  aid  of  that 
renowned  actor. 

It  was  on  the  1st  June,  1813,  during  a  period  of  innu- 
merable difficulties,  which  had  their  origin  in  the  war,  that 
Mr.  "Wellington  assumed  the  sole  proprietorship  of  the 
Courier,  and  aimed  at  making  the  paper  a  commercial  and 
business  journal,  and  rather  a  medium  of  general  intelli- 
gence and  literature,  than  a  political  organ.  Mr.  Mor- 
ford,  after  severing  a  connection  of  about  four  years  with 


104  THE    NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

the   Courier,  returned,  temporarily,  to  his  home   in  New 
Jersey. 

Dr.  Dalciio,  who  was  ordained  a  Deacon  by  Bishop  De- 
hon,  15th  February,  1814,  and  Priest  by  Bishop  White  of 
Pennsylvania,  12th  June,  181G,  was,  in  1819,  called  to  the 
ministerial  charge  of  St.  Michael's  Church.  This  skillful 
editor  was  born  in  London,  and  came  to  America  when  a 
mere  lad.  It  was  in  Maryland  that  his  whole  education 
was  received.  He  long  adorned  the  community  in  which 
he  lived,  by  his  urbanity,  literary  accomplishments,  and 
Christian  virtues.  To  him  we  owe  several  works,  among 
them  a  history  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  South  Carolina, 
published  in  1820,  and  which  will  always  continue  an 
authority  in  local  history.  The  Masonic  Fraternity  is  also 
indebted  to  him  for  an  Ahiman  Rezon.  This  sincere  Di- 
vine, died  24th  November,  1836,  in  the  67th  year  of  his 
age,  and  22nd  year  of  his  ministry. 

In  1814,  the  office  of  the  Courier  was  removed  to  No. 
63  East  Bay,  second  door  from  Broad  Street,  opposite  the 
North  corner  of  the  Exchange.  This  site  now  constitutes 
the  North  portion,  or  half  of  the  building  which  has  recent- 
ly been  purchased  and  remodeled  by  John  Sidney  Riggs. 
The  location  of  the  office  here,  was  firmly  impressed  on 
the  mind  of  the  author,  by  the  occurrence  of  a  shocking 
suicide.  The  particulars  of  that  occurrence,  which  took 
place  September  22,  1835,  are  here  given :  Isidore  Gand- 
ouin,  an  old  French  inhabitant  of  this  City,  kept  a  small 
miscellaneous  dry  goods  and  hat  store,  two  doors  North 
of  the  63  location.  It  was  the  North  tenement  of  the 
building,  but  recently  supplanted  by  Mr.  Litschgi's  new 
building. 

On  the  morning  of  the  day  alluded  to,  between  the 
hours  of  ten  and  eleven  o'clock,  Mr.  Gandouin  discharg- 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  105 

ed  the  contents  of  a  heavily  loaded  horseman's  pistol  into 
his  month,  blowing  off  his  head,  the  lower  part  of  the 
jaw  only  remaining.  Bodily  infirmities,  increased  by  ap- 
proaching blindness,  caused  the  melancholy  refuge,  in  self- 
inflicted  death.  But  a  few  days  before  he  committed  the 
act,  he  alluded  to  the  painful  situation  in  which  he  stood, 
and  of  his  intention.  It  seemed  perfectly  intolerable  to 
the  combined  pride,  and  honesty  of  his  nature,  to  battle 
longer  with  the  ills  of  life.  What  was  regarded  as  an 
empty  ebullition  of  discontent,  soon  proved  a  fatal  truth. 

The  specie  which  belonged  to  the  different  banks, 
amounting,  the  Courier  tells  us,  to  "two  million,  five  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars,  arrived  in  town  in  wagons,  22nd 
April,  1816,  from  Columbia,  where  it  had  been  deposited 
during  the  war."  The  Christ  Church  Parish  troop,  under 
the  command  of  Captain  Hibben,  escorted  the  wagon 
train  from  Columbia  to  Charleston. 

Mr.  "Wellington  was  his  own  boarding  officer,  soon  after 
he  became  sole  proprietor  of  the  Courier.  The  duty  he 
performed  in  an  open  boat,  eighteen  feet  in  length,  with 
width  in  proportion ;  sharp  bow,  square  stern,  and  rowed  by 
two  stalwart  slaves.  From  a  vessel,  boarded  by  himself 
outside  of  the  bar,  he  obtained  the  positive  news  of  the 
treaty  of  peace  between  Great  Britain  and  America.  This 
information,  received  as  it  was  from  Savannah,  on  the  11th 
February,  1815,  by  express  from  Fernandina,  Florida,  was 
made  known,  first  to  Admiral  Cockbubn  ;  then  in  com- 
mand of  the  British  Xaval  force  in  the  Chesapeake  and  its 
waters,  through  a  dispatch  vessel,  a  Sweedish  pilot  boat 
expressed  from  Cowes,  England.  Having  obtained  this 
information  exclusively,  in  the  manner  mentioned,  Mr. 
Wellington  announced  the  fact  to  his  readers,  on  the 
morning  of  the  14th  February,  1815.  The  treaty  had  been 
consummated  at  Ghent,  nearly  two  months  before.    Tidings 


10G  THE    NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

so  gratifying  were  proclaimed  that  day,  says  the  Courier, 
11  throughout  Charleston,  by  the  Sheriff  of  the  District,  ac- 
"  companied  by  a  full  band  of  military  music,  in  a  carriage, 
"  with  the  Star  Spangled  Banner  of  the  Union,  and  the 
"  Red  Cross  of  Britain  united."  The  event  was  celebrated 
in  Charleston,  on  the  night  of  Tuesday,  28th  February,  by 
the  brilliant  illuminating  of  public  buildings,  and  private 
residences. 

The  duties  of  boarding  officer  in  the  early  days  of  the 
press,  were  such  as  required  constant  exposure  of  person, 
whilst  great  energy  and  perseverance  were  essential  ad- 
juncts to  its  faithful  performance. 

Emanuel  Jones  assumed  the  duties  of  boarding  officer 
after  Mr.  Willington.  Mr.  Jones'  constitution  became 
so  greatly  impaired  through  his  devotion  to  business,  that 
he  died  September  5th,  1826.  Joseph  Prevost,  who  came 
to  Charleston  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  then  entered 
the  service  of  the  Courier.  From  1834,  until  the  close  of 
1836,  Thomas  Savage  You  was  Mr.  Prevost's  assistant ; 
then  John  Gordon  performed  the  duties  of  assistant 
boarding  officer,  and  continued  so  to  do,  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1846.  The  office  then  devolved  upon 
George   Lindsay,   another  of  Mr.  Prevost's   assistants. 

The  most  formidable  of  the  opponents  Mr.  Prevost  had 
at  various  times,  in  this  line  of  business,  were  Samuel 
Wilcox,  William  Patton,  William  G.  Trenholm  and 
John  G.  La  Roche,  boarding  officers,  at  intervals,  for  the 
offices  of  the  Gazette,  Post,  Mercury,  and  Patriot.  Messrs. 
Jones,  Prevost  and  Wilcox,  were,  in  that  line  of  busi- 
ness, men  of  indomitable  will  and  purpose. 

R.  A.  Tavel  succeeded  Mr.  Prevost,  and  became 
boarding  officer  and  marine  reporter  for  the  combined  dai- 
ly press,  with  Mr.  John  Knox,  as  his  assistant.  For  the 
past  twenty  years,  Mr.  Tavel  has  been  one  of  the  most 


OF   CHARLESTON,   S.   C.  107 

assiduous  of  workers  in  this,  as  well  as  in  other  depart- 
ments appertaining  to  journalism. 

Mr.  Willington,  when  about  to  leave  the  State  in 
1819,  on  his  first  European  tour,  appointed  Mr.  Isaac 
Course,  his  brother-in-law,  and  Mr.  John  Goodwin,  who 
was  also  a  relative,  his  attorneys ;  the  editorial  duties  he 
confided  to  Mr.  T.  G.  Woodward,  and  E.  P.  Starr. 

An  observatory,  erected  by  J.   M.  Elford,  in  August, 

1822,  over  his  "  Navigation  School,"  located  at  149  East 
Bay,  opposite  Atlantic  Central  Wharf,  was  of  great  benefit  to 
the  boarding  officers  of  the  newspapers,  and  the  Commer- 
cial public  also.  This  observatory  was  so  elevated  as  to  have 
a  commanding  view  over  the  bar,  and  from  the  middle  of 
Sullivan's  Island,  to  the  then  located  tower  in  rear  of  Fort 
Johnson.  A  signal  staff  was  erected  on  the  South  side  of 
the  observatory.  When  a  square  rigged  vessel  was  seen 
in  the  offing,  a  black  ball  was  hoisted ;  when  two  or  more 
were  in  sight,  two  black  balls  were  hoisted ;  for  fore-and- 
aft  vessels,  white  balls  were  hoisted  in  the  same  order. 
The  balls  were  kept  up  until  the  vessels  came  to  anchor. 
The  frame  of  this  observatory  was  to  be  seen  as  late  as 
1849.  Mr.  Elford  was  the  author  of  the  "  Marine  Tele- 
graph,  or    Manual  Signal   Book,"    published  in    August, 

1823.  This  excellent  invention  of  Captain  Elford  grew 
into  extensive  circulation.  It  reminds  us  of  the  fact,  by 
the  way,  that  the  first  practical  employment  of  telegraphic 
communication  between  distant  points,  was  by  the  French 
Government,  and  cannot  with  certainty  be  traced  to  an 
earlier  period  than  the  year  1793.  Flag  signals  from  the 
cupola  of  the  Custom  House,  or  "  Old  Post  Office,"  suc- 
ceeded these  ball  signals,  and  were  used  to  designate  the 
approach  of  the  Wilmington  steamers  bringing  the  North- 
ern mail ;  at  a  more  recent  period  the  New  York  line  of 
steam  ships  were  sighted  by  means  of  a  strong  achromatic 


108  THE   NEWSPAPER  PRESS. 

telescope  from  this  cupola  full  twenty  miles  at  sea,  and 
these  signals  were  hoisted,  regularly,  in  notification  of  their 
approach.  The  death  of  Captain  Elford,  which  took  place 
on  the  evening  of  25th  January,  1826,  was  considered  at 
the  time  as  a  loss  to  the  commercial  interests  of  the  United 
States. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

TITLE  OF  THE  COURIER  CHANGED,  1821 — WILLIAM  CRAFTS 
AS  EDITOR — JAMES  GORDON  BENNETT,  1823 — THE  COU- 
RIER POWER  AND  STEAM  PRESSES — ITS  THRIFTINESS — 
A.  S.  WILLINGTON,  RICHARD  YEADON,  WILLIAM  S.  KING, 
PROPRIETORS — CELESTIAL  PHENOMENON — A  PERPLEXING 
INCIDENT. 

In  tlie  spring  of  1821,  the  Courier  appeared  in  its  fourth, 
and,  up  to  that  time,  its  most  approved,  new  dress.  The 
title  was  then  changed  from  Charleston  Courier,  to  The 
Charleston  Courier.  The  motto,  "  What  is  it  but  a  map 
of  busy  life,"  from  Cowper's  Winter  Evening,  and  the 
quotation  for  the  Poet's  Corner,  from  the  pen  of  Washing- 
ton Irving,  were  adopted  at  the  same  time.  The  Hon. 
William  Crafts  was,  at  this  time,  called,  for  a  brief 
period,  to  the  editorial  charge  of  the  paper.  Not  only 
then,  but  repeatedly  afterwards,  the  Courier  s  columns 
were  adorned  by  his  elegant  contributions,  in  prose  and 
verse.  The  Courier,  with  the  daily  editorials  of  William 
Crafts,  assisted  occasionally  by  Henry  T.  Farmer,  Jas. 
Carrol  Courtenay,  that  vigorous  pamphleteer,  Edwin  C. 
Holland,  Wm.  Gtlmore  Simms,  Reverend  Samuel  Gil- 
man,  Wm.  Henry  Timrod,  Thomas  Bee,  and  others,  was 
distinguished  for  vivacity  and  variety  ;  though  its  promi- 
nent object,  as  a  business  paper,  was  not  overlooked. 

It  is  quite  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  motto  line, 
taken  from  Cowper,  (who  was  surnamed  Modern  Isaiah,) 
10 


1 110  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

was  the  suggestion  of  the  talented  Crafts.  The  personal 
history  and  character,  and  the  peculiar  talent  of  the  Eng- 
lish poet,  had  then  been  bequeathed  to  all  literary  and 
religious  enthusiasts.  The  recollection  of  what  Cowper 
was,  and  what  he  suffered,  must  have  taken  strong  hold 
upon  Crafts,  who  had  all  the  sensitiveness  of  a  true 
poetic  spirit  within  him,  and  could,  therefore,  appreciate 
the  genius  of  the  British  author. 

William  Crafts  was  born  in  Charleston,  January  24, 
1787 ;  was  admitted  to  the  Sophomore  Class  of  Harvard 
College  in  the  autumn  of  1802  ;  graduated  in  1805,  and 
began  the  study  of  law  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years.  He 
died  at  Lebanon  Springs,  New  York,  September  22,  182G. 
His  remains  were  conveyed  to  his  relatives  in  Boston  for 
interment.  Henry  Tudor  Farmer,  the  chaste  and  ele- 
gant writer,  and  graduate  of  Eaton  College,  penned  Mr. 
Crafts'  epitaph ;  fulfilling  a  promise  which  had  been 
exacted  of  him  by  the  deceased,  eight  years  before.  Mr. 
Farmer  came  from  England.  While  a  student,  he  pub- 
lished a  volume,  entitled,  "  Imagination,  the  Maniac's 
Dream,  and  other  Poems,"  which  exhibited  some  strong  and 
beautiful  touches  of  tenderness  and  pathos,  and  was  issued 
from  the  press  of  Kirk  &  Mercier,  New  York.  Other 
poems  also  were  from  his  pen.  He  wrote  frequently  for 
the  daily  press.  Farmer  survived  his  friend  Crafts  but 
three  years  and  three  months.  His  epitaph  can  be  seen 
in  St.  Michael's  Church  yard.  Sons  of  this  editor  and 
essayist — C.  Baring  Farmer,  and  H.  Tudor  Farmer — 
reside  in  Walterboro,  South  Carolina- 
It  has  been  said  of  Crafts  that  "  no  limit  could  have 
"been  assigned  to  his  reputation,  felicity  and  usefulness, 
"  had  his  application  been  equal  to  his  genius."  The  only 
surviving  male  relative  of  the  late  William  Crafts  is  his 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  Ill 

half-brother,  our  courteous  fellow  citizen,  Captain  George 
I.  Crafts. 

It  will  be  mentioned  just  here,  parenthetically,  that 
about  1823,  James  Gordon  Bennett,  now  the  most  re- 
nowned of  Northern  journalists,  became  an  employe  in  the 
office  of  the  Courier.  After  a  few  months'  residence  in 
Charleston,  he  returned  to  New  York,  and  connected  him- 
self with  the  Courier  and  Enquirer.  He  issued  proposals 
in  October,  1832,  for  the  publication  of  The  New  York 
Globe.  It  was  published,  a  short  time,  in  William  Street. 
In  May,  1835,  Mr.  Bennett  brought  into  existence  the 
present  New  York  Herald,  the  second  paper  of  that  name 
ever  published  in  New  York  ;  a  paper  which,  in  its  early 
career,  had  the  reputation  of  being  the  most  unscrupulous 
journal  in  the  United  States.  Fame  and  wealth  have, 
since  that  period,  marked  the  career  of  James  Gordon 
Bennett. 

A  new  font  of  letter  again  became  a  necessity  with  the 
Courier,  and  the  edition  of  2nd  January,  1826,  was  work- 
ed off  on  a  form  of  new  type,  which  came  from  the  foun- 
der}- of  Messrs.  William  Hagar  &  Co.,  of  New  York. 

Mr.  Willington,  in  mentioning  the  fact,  stated  "  that 
"  the  circulation  had  become  so  large,  as  to  render  it  diffi- 
"  cult  to  strike  it  off,  with  the  presses  then  in  common  use, 
"  in  the  period  allowed  for  that  purpose.  But  it  is  our 
"intention,"  said  the  proprietor,  "as  soon  as  experience 
"  shall  have  tested  the  advantages  of  some  recent  inven- 
"  tions  in  printing  presses,  to  avail  ourselves  of  them,  in 
"  order  to  expedite  the  printing  of  our  paper." 

At  the  time  alluded  to,  Smith's  iron  press  was  used  in 
working  off  the  edition  ;  Adams'  power  press,  with  compo- 
sition rollers,  was  afterwards,  (September  1st,  1834,)  intro- 
duced and  adopted.  It  gave  seven  hundred  impressions 
to  the  hour.     Steam  was  not  applied,  in  working  off  the 


112  THE    NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

(  hurier,  until  early  in  1851,  though  its  proprietors  would 
have  been  the  first  to  use  it,  in  working  off  their  paper, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  disclosure  of  the  secret  order  given 
by  Messrs.  A.  S.  Wellington  &  Co.  to  Messrs.  Cameron, 
McDermid  &  Mustard,  early  in  the  year  1849.  This 
order  was  for  an  engine,  to  be  made  entire  by  those  ma- 
chinists, and  which  was  to  be  put  on  exhibition,  in  com- 
petition for  the  prize,  at  the  first  fair  of  the  "  South 
Carolina  Institute."  This  contemplated  advance  in  the 
Courier  press-room  was  not,  as  it  was  hoped,  smothered  up 
in  silence,  and  before  that  piece  of  mechanism — pretty 
and  creditable  as  it  was — could  be  completed,  these  in- 
struments were  imported,  and  other  presses  were  driven 
by  steam. 

The  credit  for  the  adaptation  of  steam  power  for  print- 
ing here,  is  due  to  Messrs.  Walker  &  James,  who  were 
extensively  engaged  in  book  and  job  printing.  This  firm, 
in  February,  1850,  applied  steam  to  a  double  medium  cyl- 
inder machine,  manufactured  by  Messrs.  E.  Hoe  &  Co.,  of 
New  York.  The  imprint  of  their  firm  was  "  Pioneer  Steam 
Presses,  of  Walker  &  James,  Charleston,  S.  C."  The 
first  sheets  issued  through  the  agency  of  steam,  were 
those  of  a  short-lived  hebdomadal,  issued  by  this  firm,  and 
edited  by  W.  C.  Richards,  assisted  by  Paul  H.  Hayne 
and  Henry  Timrod. 

Mr.  Willington  remained  sole  proprietor  of  the  Cou- 
rier, until  the  1st  day  of  January,  1833,  when  he  associated 
with  him,  as  joint  co-partners  and  editors,  Richard  Yea- 
don  and  William  S.  King.  These  gentlemen  became, 
each,  an  owner  of  one  portion  of  the  paper,  by  purchase. 
Continued  prosperity  followed  this  change.  From  this 
office,  the  first  letter-sheet  Prices  Current  was  issued,  in 
September,  1833. 

It  is  not  only  opportune,  but  interesting  to  narrate  here, 


OF    CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  113 

one  of  the  grandest  celestial  sights,  ever  viewed  by  man ; 

which  account  is  extracted  from  the  Courier  of  the  14th  of 

November,  1833  : 

"  Brilliant  Phenomenon.* — The  atmosphere  was  on  Tues- 
day night  last,  illuminated  with  a  brilliant  and  extraor- 
dinary meteoric  display.  It  consisted  of  myriads  of 
falling  or  shooting  stars,  even  of  a  large  size,  darting  in 
an  oblique  direction  towards  the  earth,  seemingly  from 
every  part  of  the  heavens,  and  occasionally  exploding 
like  rockets.  The  luminous  appearances  commenced 
about  midnight,  and  were  most  brilliant  between  3  and  4 
o'clock,  A.M. ;  being  assimilated,  by  those  who  witnessed 
them,  to  a  fiery  rain  or  hail,  and  continued  until  sunrise. 
We  understand  that  a  very  large  meteor  exploded  imme- 
diately over  the  City  Hall.  A  sudden  change  of  atmos- 
phere from  hot  to  cold,  which  took  place  during  the 
night,  was,  probably,  closely  connected  with  the  origin  of 
the  phenomenon.  We  have  been  informed  by  Captain 
Jackson,  who  was  at  sea  at  night,  at  the  distance  of  nine 
miles  from  land,  that  the  heavens  were  illuminated  with 
meteors,  during  nearly  the  whole  night,  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  in  every  direction ;  presenting  a  spectacle  of 
uncommon  magnificence  and  sublimity,  attended  with 
frequent  explosions,  resembling  the  discharge  of  small 
arms.  We  learn,  also,  that  a  meteor  of  extraordinary 
size  was  observed  at  sea,  to  course  the  heavens  for  a  great 
length  of  time,  and  then  exploded,  with  the  noise  of  a 
cannon.  We  trust  that  a  full  account  of  it  will  be  fur- 
nished by  some  scientific  hand." 
A  very  singular  occurrence  took  place  in  the   Courier 


*This  remarkable  occurrence  was  witnessed  by  the  author,  then  a  mere 
boy.  Through  the  thoughtfulness  of  his  father,  he  was  aroused  from  his 
sleep,  to  view  a  spectacle  which  he  never  can  forget,  and  which  filled  him 
with  fear  and  admiration. 


11  I  THE   NEW8PAPEE  PRESS 

establishment  after  midnight  of  the  27th  of  April,  1835, 
which  prevented  the  appearance  of  the  Conner  in  the 
morning.  One  of  the  journeyman,  Samuel  F.  Cole,  was 
engaged  in  justifying  the  form,  after  the  foreman  had 
finished  "  making  up,"  and  had  left  the  office ;  Cole  was 
left  alone  with  his  only  attendant,  a  negro  press-hand, 
and  the  latter,  as  was  the  custom,  had  gone  for  the  other 
press-hand,  two  being  required  to  do  the  labor.  When 
the  negro  returned,  he  found  a  large  quantity  of  type  on 
the  pavement,  in  front  of  the  office,  and  the  remainder  of 
that  which  belonged  to  the  form,  in  most  admirable  confu- 
sion, lying  about  the  "imposing  stone."  From  appear- 
ances, Cole  had  broken  the  second  page,  "locked  up"  the 
other,  and  lifting  it  up  to  the  window,  precipitated  it  into 
the  street,  furniture  and  all ;  an  exertion  that  required 
considerable  strength.  Mr.  Cole  was  found,  shortly  after, 
in  bed.  On  being  charged  with  the  commission  of  the 
outrage,  he  readily  acknowledged  it,  and  when  asked  his 
object  in  destroying  that  which  took  so  much  labor  to  ac- 
complish, answered,  "I  did  it  in  masonry,"  and  also  said 
"  it  is  the  want  of  money."  Some  suspicion  was  attached 
to  him,  as  being  the  person  who  had  set  fire  to  both  the 
Courier  and  Mercury  offices,  on  the  night  of  Saturday,  4th 
of  October,  1834.  When  charged  with  this  act,  he  ac- 
knowledged that  also.  Cole  was  likewise  charged  with 
setting  fire  to  a  residence  in  Laurens  Street,  where  he 
boarded,  and  which  was  burned  down  on  the  night  of  the 
7th  of  November,  1834.  When  this  offence  was  imputed 
to  him,  he  sneeringly  replied,  "  You  accuse  me  of  every 
thing,  you  may  as  well  say,  I  burned  down  St.  Philips' 
Church,  also."  Cole  was  committed  to  the  Poor  House, 
where  his  father  was  at  the  time,  confined  as  a  lunatic. 

The  office  of  the  Courier  was,  on  the  3rd  of  January, 
1837,  removed  from  G3   East  Bay,  to  111  East  Bay,  just 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  115 

after  the  completion  of  what  was  then  a  novelty,  even  in 
New  York  City,  its  present  marble  front. 

Some  idea  can  be  formed  of  the  comparative  insignifi- 
cancy of  the  mail  matter  which  came  into,  and  went  out 
of  Charleston,  even  up  to  a  period  as  recent  as  1839.  On 
the  15th  of  November,  1836,  consequent  upon  a  change 
of  schedule  in  the  departure  of  the  United  States  Mail 
from  Fayettefcille,  North  Carolina,  the  Charleston  papers 
of  that  day  announced  that  the  Government  had  estab- 
lished a  horse  express,  between  this  City  and  the  point 
mentioned.  Much  interest  was  manifested  by  the  people 
of  Charleston,  at  the  daily  coming  in  of  this  express.  The 
carrier  would  urge  his  horse,  with  whip  and  spur,  in  his 
course  down  Meeting  street,  through  Broad  street,  and  up 
to  the  very  steps  of  the  Post  Office,  and  there  deliver  his 
mails.  An  accident,  which  happened  to  this  express  on  the 
afternoon  of  October  14,  1837,  will  be  remembered  by 
many  of  our  citizens.  For  the  purpose  of  cleaning  out  a 
drain  which  then  intersected  Meeting  and  Chalmers  streets, 
an  aperture  of  considerable  size  was  necessarily  made. 
The  rider  on  coming  in,  the  afternoon  alluded  to,  did  not 
discover  the  opening  in  time  to  avoid  it,  and  into  the  chasm 
both  the  rider  and  his  horse  went.  The  rider  crawled  out, 
but  much  injured,  but  the  horse,  owing  to  the  injuries  re- 
ceived, had  to  be  shot.  This  express  mail  was  robbed  on 
the  night  of  June  17,  1838,  when  about  forty  miles  from 
Charleston.  The  rate  of  postage  by  the  express,  which 
was  in  operation  upwards  of  three  years,  was  75  cents  for 
single  letters,  and  $1.50  for  double  letters. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

FIEE  OF  APRIL  27,  1838 — LOSS  OF  LIFE  ATTENDING  IT — 
HISTORY  OF  "  OLD  SECESSION" — CHARLESTON'S  UNPAR- 
ALLELED FIRE,  DECEMBER,  1861 THE    COURIER    FORCED 

TO  CHANGE  ITS  PLACE  OF  PUBLICATION — W.  B.  CARLISLE, 
U.  S.  BIRD  AND  A.  0.  ANDREWS — WHITTEMORE  AND  JOHN- 
SON TAKE  POSSESSION  OF  THE  COURIER  UNDER  OFFICIAL 
ORDERS — WM.  L.  DAGGETT — THE  COURIER  REVERTS  TO 
ITS  PROPRIETORS. 

Of  all  the  fires  that  had  happened  in  Charleston,  that  of 
the  27th  April,  1838,  was,  up  to  that  period,  the  most  ruin- 
ous. It  broke  out  at  9  o'clock  at  night,  at  the  North  "West 
corner  of  King  and  Berresford  Streets.  The  list  of  houses 
destroyed,  covered  three  and  a  half  columns  of  the  Courier. 
The  loss  of  property  was  estimated  at  three  millions  of  dol- 
lars ;  and  the  loss  of  life  plunged  many  of  our  most  worthy 
families  in  the  deepest  distress.  It  was  greater  than  at 
any  previous,  or  subsequent  fire,  excepting,  perhaps,  that 
less  important  one  produced  by  the  terrific  explosion,  at 
the  depot  of  the  North  Eastern  Rail  Road,  at  the  time  of 
the  last  surrender  of  Charleston,  which  has  been  estimated 
at  from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred,  mostly  negroes. 

The  conflagration  of  '38,  extended  North  and  East. 
Powder  was  freely  used.  The  firemen  having  become  ex- 
hausted, it  was  hoped  that  the  engineer  department,  then 
in  existence,  would,  by  blowing  up,  put  a  stop  to  the 
.raging  element.     In  blowing  up  the  house  which  stood  at 


118  THE   NEWSPAPER   PR] 

the  South  West  corner  of  King  and  Liberty  Streets,  Mr. 
Frederick  Schnierle,  a  prominent  citizen,  and  a  mem- 
ber  of  the  department,  lost  his  life.  With  him  perished 
Mr.  Joiin  S.  Peart.  Colonel  Charles  John  Steedman, 
(before  mentioned  as  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Gazette) 
waa  killed,  while  blowing  up  a  house  on  the  West  side  of 
East  Bay,  next  South  of  Hasel  Street,  together  with  his 
attendant,  a  colored  man,  named  William,  the  property 
of  Mrs.  Taylor,  a  widow.  Capt.  Duff,  of  the  ship  JL v- 
ald,  and  Mr.  M.  F.  Turley,  of  this  City,  sustained  serious 
injuries. 

The  services  of  Mr.  J.  D.  Browne,  a  gentleman  well 
skilled  in  pyrotechny,  wTere  called  into  requisition  on  the 
night  of  that  fire.  To  him  was  confided  the  responsibility 
of  blowing  up  the  houses  on  the  West  side  of  Meeting 
Street,  from  a  large  wooden  building,  used  as  a  theatre, 
North  to  Market  Street;  thence  from  the  South  East  cor- 
ner of  Meeting  and  Market  Streets  East  to  Church  Street. 
The  proper  time-fuses  used  by  the  engineers  having  given 
out,  they  then  had  to  resort  to  the  common  port-fire  and 
kegs  of  powder.  Mr.  Browne  was  successfully  employed 
until  he  reached  the  house  then  occupied  by  an  Italian, 
named  Jacob  Geanni,  midway  between  the  opposite 
points.  In  blowing  up  that  building,  he  met  with  his  first 
injury — a  severe  gash  on  the  fore-head.  This  did  not  de- 
ter him  in  the  performance  of  his  extremely  hazardous 
duty.  On  he  went,  toppling  building  after  building,  until 
he  blew  up  the  last  house  assigned  to  him,  which  was  just 
before  midnight.  There,  he  narrowly  escaped  with  his 
life,  and  was,  as  he  has  told  the  author,  "  literally  burnt 
from  head  to  foot."  His  life  was,  for  a  long  time,  despair- 
ed of.  Mr.  Browne  still  lives,  but  bears  the  marks  re- 
ceived on  that  eventful  night. 

The  light  of  this  fire  was  reported  as  having  been  seen 


OF    CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  119 

at  3  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  27th  April,  1838,  full  twen- 
ty-five miles  South  of  Savannah,  being  in  a  direct  line, 
about  eighty  miles  from  Charleston,  A  piece  of  burnt 
linen  was  picked  up  on  the  morning  of  the  fire,  by  a  plan- 
ter on  his  place  fifteen  miles  distant,  where  the  light  was 
most  distinctly  seen,  and  where  the  noise  occasioned  by 
the  blowing  up  of  houses  was  heard. 

The  3d  of  January,  1853,  marked  an  epoch  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Courier.  On  that  propitious  day,  the  semi- 
centennial anniversary  of  this  journal  was  celebrated  by  a 
banquet  given  at  Butterfields'  Pavilion  Hotel.  At  that 
feast,  the  "  Press-gang"  of  the  City,  editorial  and  operative, 
were  gathered.  Mr.  Willingtoh  presided,  and  was  as- 
sisted, at  that  grateful  and  joyous  festival,  by  Mr.  Yea- 
don,  as  Vice-President.  The  lapse  of  fifty  years  found  the 
original  publisher  of  the  Courier,  still  at  its  head,  and 
gracefully  celebrating  the  occasion,  in  healthful  spirits  and 
manly  vigor. 

At  111  East  Bay,  for  about  a  quarter  of  a  century,  the 
Courier  experienced  its  greatest  prosperity.  It  was  in  the 
autumn  of  1860,  increased  in  size  to  30  by  44,  and  worked 
off  on  two  of  Hoe's  single  cylinder  presses.  The  paper 
then  used  was  of  domestic  fabric,  having  been  manufactur- 
ed by  the  "  South  Carolina  Paper  Manufacturing  Compa- 
ny." That  Company  had  been  regularly  supplying  paper 
to  the  concern  since  December,  185:2, 

On  the  23d  February,  1861,  the  political  condition  of 
the  country  warranting  it,  there  was  placed,  immediately 
under  the  imprint  of  the  paper,  the  national  words,  "  Con- 
federated States  of  America." 

From  111  East  Bay — its  present  location — this  paper 
daily  recorded  the  upheavings  of  "  Secession,"  events  which 
were  temporarily  to  reduce  the  paper  to  the  period  of  its 
second  greatest  trial.     It  was  in  close  proximity  to  this 


120  TIIE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

site,  that  a  piece  of  ordnance — known  as  "  Old  Secession," 
obtained  by  the  author  from  the  Spanish  Bark  Olympia, 
through  her  consignees,  Messrs.  Hall  &  Co.,  was  kept  in 
readiness  for  the  work  it  was  required  to  chronicle  in  that 
momentous  drama.  From  the  corner  of  East  Bay  and 
Broad  Streets,  near  midnight  on  the  10th  November,  18G0, 
the  discharges  from  that  gun — a  six  pounder — first  an- 
nounced to  the  slumbering  citizens  of  Charleston,  that  the 
Bill  calling  a  Convention  of  the  State,  had  just  passed  the 
Legislature.  That  gun  which  had  then  begun  to  play  a 
conspicuous  part  in  the  incidents  destined  to  become  his- 
torical, again,  on  the  20th  December,  1860,  pealed  forth, 
almost  instantaneously,  announcing  the  passage  of  the  Or- 
dinance of  Secession.  On  that  occasion,  it  stood  on  the 
vacant  space,  to  the  North  of  the  Exchange,  and  thence 
it  thundered  forth  the  news,  as  soon  as  received,  of  each 
State  falling  into  line,  in  support  of  the  political  sentiments 
of  South  Carolina.  The  sons  of  the  soil  who  were  called 
by  the  projector,  to  aid  him  in  consecrating  that  gun  to 
patriotism,  resolved  that  it  should  never  again  be  devoted 
to  a  common  use. 

The  columns  of  the  Courier  of  the  12th  and  13th  De- 
cember, 1861,  record  a  terrible  and  mysterious  dispensation 
of  Providence.  We  allude  to  the  devastating  fire  of  that 
year,  known  as  the  greatest  of  all  our  City  fires,  in  mag- 
nitude. 

It  began  in  the  large  sash  and  blind  factory  of  Messrs. 
W.  P.  Kussell  &  Co.,  near  the  foot  of  Hasel  Street,  about 
half-past  eight  o'clock,  on  Wednesday  night,  December  11, 
1861.  The  wind,  which  was  blowing  strongly  from  North- 
Northeast,  increased  almost  to  a  hurricane.  The  flames 
rose  to  a  terrible  pitch,  and  in  a  few  moments,  notwith- 
standing the  most  gallant  efforts  of  an  efficient  fire  brigade, 
were  communicated  to  the  adjacent  workshops  and  build- 


OF   CHARLESTON,   S.   C.  121 

ings,  including  the  large  foundry  of  Messrs.  Cameron  &  Co. 
This  was,  for  the  second  time,  destroyed.  By  this  time  the 
fire  indicated  the  most  disastrous  results.  Building  after 
building  caught,  and  became,  as  it  were,  one  vast  sheet  of 
flame.  Furious  gusts  of  wind  carried  and  scattered,  in 
every  direction,  the  burning  flakes.  Men,  women  and 
children  were  to  be  seen  fleeing  from  their  homes  in  the 
greatest  distress,  and  adding  much,  of  course,  to  the  excite- 
ment. 

From  the  foot  of  Hasel  Street,  on  Cooper  River,  East, 
to  the  end  of  Tradd  Street,  on  the  Ashley,  running  West, 
the  conflagration  made  a  clean  sweep  of  portions  of  the 
following  streets,  and  together  with  these  are  enumerated 
the  number  of  sufferers  who  owned  one  or  more  houses : 
Hasel  Street,  6  sufferers ;  Pritchard  Street,  8 ;  Pinckney 
Street,  19  ;  East  Bay  Street,  29  ;  Anson  Street,  11 ;  Motte 
Lane,  4 ;    Gruignard  Street,  7 ;   State  Street,  12 ;   Church 
Street,  18  ;    Cumberland  Street,  17  ;   Meeting  Street,  33, 
exclusive  of   the  Circular  Church  and  Theatre;   Clifford 
Street,  7 ;  Horlbeck's  Alley,  12 ;  Queen  Street,  29 ;  King 
Street,  50;    Broad  Street,  21,  exclusive  of  St.  Andrew's 
Hall  and  St.  Finbar's  Cathedral ;  Mazyck  Street,  8  ;  Frank- 
lin Street,  2 ;  Short  Street,  7 ;  Friend  Street,  21 ;  Tradd 
Street,  West,  23  ;  New  Street,  15 ;  Savage  Street,  28 ;  Logan 
Street,  10,  exclusive  of   St.  Peter's  Church;    Limehouse 
Street,  4.     Thus  it  will  be  seen,  that  there  were,  at  least, 
389  sufferers,  many  of  them  owning  more  than  one  house  ; 
buildings,  not  of  wood,  but  mostly  of  brick,  of  good  size  and 
appearance.     The  area  of  ground  was  540  acres,  and  the 
loss  of  property  variously  estimated  at  from  five  to  seven 
millions  of  dollars.     The  great  fire  of  1838,  was  almost 
obliterated  from  the  memory  of   Charlestonians,  by  this 
more  disastrous  one  of  1861.     It  can  well  be  said,  that  this 
fire  "  caused  poverty  to  wring  her  hands  in  agony." 
li 


122  THE  NEWSPAPER  PRESS 

During  the  memorable  siege  of  Charleston,  the  shelling 
from  the  Federal  fortifications  on  Morris'  Island  and  its 
vicinity,  which  began  at  half-past  one  o'clock,  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  22d  August,  1863,  had  increased  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  cause  the  removal  of  the  Courier  establish- 
ment, two  months  later,  out  of  range  of  the  enemy's  shells. 
For  the  purpose  of  this  removal,  the  publication  of  the 
paper  was  suspended  Saturday,  November  21, 1863,  on  the 
one  hundred  and  thirty-first  day  of  the  siege,  and  resumed 
Monday,  November  30, 1863,  on  the  premises  of  Mr.  F.  H. 
Whitney,  South  East  corner  of  Meeting  and  Reid  Streets. 
But  once  before,  in  the  long  course  of  over  sixty  years,  has 
the  Courier  been  known  temporarily  to  suspend. 

It  was  at  the  corner  of  Meeting  and  Reid  Streets,  and 
while  he  was  still  editor  of  the  Courier,  that  the  mind  of 
William  Buchanan  Carlisle  became  overshadowed, 
and  soon  afterwards,  irretrievably  lost.  The  editorial  de- 
partment of  the  paper  was  not  permitted  to  suffer,  how- 
ever, as  that  early  and  tried  friend  of  the  establishment, 
Colonel  Augustus  Oliver  Andrews,  together  with  the 
Reverend  Urban  Sinkler  Bird,  were  engaged  in  its  sup- 
port. 

A.  0.  Andrews  was  born  in  Charleston.  His  education, 
collegiate,  was  thorough.  Reared  as  a  merchant,  he  has 
since  become  most  prominent  and  useful.  He  has  for  many 
years  been  closely  identified  with  the  commercial  interests 
of  his  native  city.  A  long  and  distinguished  administra- 
tion as  President  of  the  Charleston  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
is  associated  with  his  name.  Fond  of  literature,  his  friendly 
and  very  intimate  relations  with  the  editors  of  the  Courier, 
dating  as  they  do  from  early  life,  gave  him  scope  in  the 
indulgence  of  a  logical  and  facile  pen.  His  diction  is  ad- 
mirable ;  admitting  of  no  addition  or  subtraction  without 
risking  the  destruction  of  a  charm.     His  writings — gener- 


OF   CHARLESTON,   S.    C.  123 

ally  miscellaneous — admit  of  no  substitution  of  terms. 
They  have  that  curiosa  felicitas  which  proves  that  in  their 
preparation  much  thought  and  time  have  been  judiciously 
expended.  That  portion  of  the  Courier  which  is  devoted  to 
11  Leisure  moments  with  new  publications,"  receives  the  at- 
tention of  this  discriminating  writer. 

Mr.  Bird,  whose  writings  were  miscellaneous  and  easy, 
became  connected  with  the  Courier  in  November,  1858. 
In  February,  1865,  he  terminated  his  connection  with  the 
paper,  and  associated  himself  with  the  Reverend  F.  A. 
Mood,  and  together,  published,  for  a  short  time,  The 
Weekly  Record.  Mr.  Bird  went  afterwards,  to  reside  in 
Florida. 

The  second  day  after  the  occupation  of  Charleston  by  the 
forces  of  the  United  States,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  A.  G. 
Bennett,  Commanding,  and  which  occurred  February 
18th,  1865,  the  establishment  of  the  Courier  was  taken 
possession  of  by  Stewart  L.  Woodford,  Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel of  the  127th  New  York  Volunteers,  and  Provost  Marshal 
General.  The  seizure  was  under  official  orders  from  Gen- 
eral Quincy  A.  Gilmore,  and  is  here  appended : 

"Office  Provost  Marshal  General,  D.  S.,      \ 
"Charleston,  S.  C,  February  20th,  1865.  J 
11  [Special  Orders  J\To.  1.] 

11  The  Charleston  Courier  establishment  is  hereby  taken 
1  possession  of,  by  the  military  authorities  of  the  United 
1  States.  All  the  materials  and  property  of  said  news- 
1  paper,  of  every  kind,  will  be  immediately  turned  over 
'  to  Messrs.  George  Whittemore  and  Geo.  W.  Johnson, 
1  who  are  hereby  authorized  to  issue  a  loyal  Union  news- 
1  paper.  They  will  receipt  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  "Wood- 
'  ford,  Provost  Marshal  General,  D.  S.,  for  all  property 
1  taken  possession  of  by  them,  under  this  order.     They 


124  THE   NEWSPAPER  PRESS 

"will  keep  possession  of  the  building  now  used  for  that 
"  purpose. 

"  By  Command  of  Major-General  Q.  A.  Gilmore. 

11  Stewart  L.  Woodford, 
"  Lieut.  Colonel  127th  N.  Y.  Volunteers, 

11  Provost  Marshal  General,  D.  S." 

It  was  announced  officially,  March  2d,  1865,.  that  the 
Military  authorities  had  extended  facilities  to  the  editors 
of  the  Courier  for  executing  all  kinds  of  Job  Printing. 
Mr.  William  L.  Daggett,  who  became  connected  with 
the  Courier  as  its  foreman,  in  January,  1859 — on  the  re- 
tirement of  Mr.  Henry  W.  Gwinner,  who  had  discharged 
the  duties  with  acceptance  and  laborious  fidelity — was  then 
called  as  superintendent  of  Job  Printing. 

The  new  proprietors,  made  so  by  force  of  arms,  suspend- 
ed publication,  April  5,  1865,  and  republished  eight  days 
after,  from  43  Hayne  Street,  two  doors  East  from  Meeting 
Street.  Both  Whittemore  and  Johnson  were,  up  to  the 
time  of  their  entrance  into  the  City  with  the  troops,  attach- 
ed to  the  Federal  army,  as  correspondents  of  Northern 
journals. 

William  L.  Daggett,  who  took  charge  of  the  Job  de- 
partment at  the  time  mentioned,  was  born  in  New  Bedford, 
State  of  Massachusetts,  August  6,  1824.  After  having 
begun  his  apprenticeship,  in  1832,  with  the  late  Colonel 
Samuel  Green,  of  the  New  London  (Conn.)  Gazette,  he 
worked  in  the  office  of  the  Mercury,  a  publication  in  the 
Town  of  his  nativity.  He  came  to  Charleston  in  1838, 
being  then  in  his  fourteenth  year.  After  "  sticking  type" 
in  the  offices  of  B.  B.  Hussey,  Burges  &  James,  The 
Charleston  Mercury,  and  The  Southern  Patriot,  he  was 
called  to  the  foremanship  of  The  Evening  News,  in  Octo- 
ber, 1845,  at  the  time  that  journal  was  started.    Warmly 


OF  CHARLESTON,  S.  C.  125 

participating  in  the  municipal  contest  of  1849,  his  energies 
were  rewarded  shortly  after,  by  a  civil  appointment  from 
the  dominant  party.  In  1S52,  Edward  C.  Councell  and 
himself  became  co-partners,  and  as  Councell  &  Daggett 
were  popular  job  printers.  Withdrawing  from  that  firm 
some  time  after  he  accepted  the  foremanship  of  The  Charles- 
ton Standard.  His  next  change  found  him  in  the  office  of 
the  Courier.  In  his  acceptance  of  the  position  he  was 
called  to,  the  proprietors  were  benefitted ;  for,  up  to  the 
present  period,  he  has  proved  himself  the  most  efficient, 
energetic  and  skillful  of  foremen. 

Messrs.  George  Whittemoee  and  George  W.  Johnson 
continued  to  control  the  paper  until  the  24th  of  April, 
1865,  when  Mr.  Johnson,  not  only  suddenly,  but  rather 
mysteriously,  left  the  City.  The  paper  was  then  issued 
by  Geoege  Whittemore  &  Co.  It  was  then  increased  to 
full  size  from  half  a  sheet ;  the  dimensions  being  16  by 
11?  inches.  The  subscription  price  of  $20  per  annum,  re- 
mained unchanged,  and  was  paid  in  Federal  currency. 
This  condition  of  things  remained  until  20th  November, 
1865,  when  the  firm  of  A.  S.  Willington  &  Co.  again 
assumed  control  of  the  paper.  It  was  then  enlarged,  and 
the  subscription  reduced  to  the  ante-bellum  rate  of  $10. 
In  May,  1866,  Mr.  George  Whitte:moee  left  Charleston 
for  New  York.  It  is  needless  here,  to  state  how  the  paper 
reverted  to  those  who  had  for  so  many  years  upheld  its 
ever  popular  usefulness  and  integrity.  But  a  few  weeks 
before  this  change,  the  office  was,  in  consequence  of  a  fire, 
which  burned  out  the  establishment,  on  the  morning  of 
18th  October,  1865,  removed  back  to  111  East  Bay,  and 
once  more  occupied  its  old  stand. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  COURIER  AND  ITS  PRINCIPAL  EDITORS — A.  S.  WILLING- 
TON,  R.  YEADON,  W.  S.  KING,  AND  OTHERS — NULLIFICA- 
TION, A  CIVIL  EXCITEMENT,  1831-32 — THE  COURIER 
AND  POLITICS — NEW  YORK  AND  CHARLESTON  LINE  OF 
STEAMERS — MEXICAN  WAR — PONY  EXPRESS — ELECTRO- 
MAGNETIC   TELEGRAPH. 

The  Courier  includes  among  its  leading  editors,  within 
the  author's  recollection,  one  of  its  founders,  Aaron  Smith 
Willington.  Mr.  "Wellington  became  from  practice, 
a  very  excellent  writer,  of  unaffected  style  and  manner, 
never  attempting  ambitious  nights,  always  maintaining  the 
proper  level  of  the  subject  he  undertook  to  discuss.  A 
literary  friend  remarked  in  company,  not  a  great  while 
ago,  that  Mr.  Willington's  excellent  biographical  sketch 
of  William  Crafts,  at  one  time  editor  of  the  Courier, 
would  do  credit  to  any  journalist.  Mr.  Willington  was 
a  man  of  wonderful  energy,  and  nothing  can  more  fully 
demonstrate  the  fact,  than  his  surmounting  of  difficulties 
in  early  life,  as  publisher.  His  tour  in  Europe  in  1851, 
gave  him  a  place  in  our  native  literature,  through  the  in- 
strumentality of  an  exceedingly  well  written  volume,  en- 
titled, "A  summer's  tour  in  Europe,  in  1851."  A  stroke 
of  apoplexy,  sudden  in  its  effect,  which  occurred  on  the 
night  of  the  1st  February,  1862,  first  indicated  the  ap- 
proach of  death ;  four  hours  later,  on  the  morning  of  the 
2nd,  this  highly  esteemed  editor  and  associate  proprietor 


128  THE  NEWSPAPER  PRESS 

of  the  Courier,  closed  his  long,  useful,  and  well  directed 
life,  within  forty  days  of  his  81st  year.  His  remains  were 
deposited  in  the  cemetery  of  St.  Philips'  Church.  The 
widow  of  Mr.  Willington  is  now  the  representative  of  his 
interest  in  the  paper. 

Richard  Yeadon,  who  was  the  second  associate  pro- 
prietor of  the  Courier,  was  the  only  son  of  Col.  Richard 
Yeadon.  He  was  born  in  this  City,  October  22,  1802, 
Mr.  Yeadon  became  the  de  facto  editor  of  the  Courier, 
July  1,  1832,  taking  the  editorial  pen,  to  wage  the  war  of 
the  Constitution,  against  nullification,  as  advanced  by  the 
State  Rights  Party.  He  took  active  charge  of  the  editorial 
department  of  the  paper,  at  the  time  of  his  connection  with 
it  as  a  partner,  on  the  1st  January,  1833. 

About  this  time,  the  Courier,  which  had  pursued  a  com- 
mercial course,  gradually  became  involved  in  politics ;  its 
tendency  in  this  direction  increased,  and  was,  finally,  more 
decided ;  in  fact,  it  was  hardly  possible  to  escape  the  ap- 
parent vortex.  It  was  the  period  of  the  great  struggle  of 
the  Union,  and  the  Nullification  Parties,  and  no  organ,  not 
even  one  of  the  commercial  and  miscellaneous  nature  of 
the  Courier,  was  suffered  to  retain  a  position  of  perfect 
neutrality.  A  position  indeed  of  that  sort  would  have 
been  untenable  by  any  journal  in  the  presence  of  ques- 
tions so  vital ! 

The  doctrine  of  nullification  has  been  alluded  to  in  con- 
nection with  the  press.  This  powerful  fulcrum  of  public 
opinion,  tended  much  to  irritate  that  burning  civil  excite- 
ment ;  therefore,  an  outline  of  the  contest  cannot  be  re- 
garded as  out  of  place  in  this  work. 

Those  who  figured  at  the  time,  when  there  were  daily 
apprehensions  of  the  shedding  of  a  brother's  blood,  are 
rapidly  passing  away.  While  complying  with  the  behests 
of  nature,  they  have,  thus  far,  failed  to  leave  to  posterity, 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  129 

except  in  irregular  form,  any  record  of  the  most  bitter  of 
political  disputations — one  which  has  been  such  a  prolific 
source  of  injury,  politically,  commercially,  and  socially. 

It  can  be  said  of  nullification,  that  though  the  question 
began  to  be  agitated  in  the  year  1824,  it  did  not  assume 
a  very  threatening  shape  until  the  celebrated  protest  of 
the  South  Carolina  Legisture,  on  the  subject  of  the  tariff; 
a  document  of  great  historical  interest,  which  was  put 
forth  in  December,  1827.  Mr.  Calhoun,  regarded" as  the 
great  High  Priest  of  nullification,  published  about  this 
time  an  exposition  of  the  nullification  doctrine* 

On  the  4th  July,  1831,  General  Robert  Y.  Hayne,  and 
others,  addressed  the  nullifiers,  and  Colonel  William 
Drayton,  the  same  day,  in  an  oration  which  occupied  over 
two  hours  of  time,  addressed  the  Union  Party.  Colonel 
Drayton  was  followed  by  Thos.  R.  Mitchell,  Judge 
Huger,  Judge  Lee,  Hugh  S.  Legare,  James  L.  Petigru, 
and  others.  From  that  period,  party  lines  were  formally 
drawn. 

The  General  Assembly  of  South  Carolina,  on  the  23d 
November,  1832,  called  a  Convention.  The  Convention, 
with  Governor  Hamilton  at  its  head,  passed,  by  a  vote  of 

*  Nullification  was  a  word  never  used  by  John  C.  Calhoun.  It  was  a  term 
used  by  Thomas  Jefferson.  A  venerable  statesman  and  townsman  of  ours— 
he,  who  made  the  call  in  our  State  Legislature,  in  1831,  for  a  Convention— has 
furnished  the  author  with  the  following  extract  of  a  letter,  in  justification 
of  the  assertion,  to  many  unknown.  The  letter  from  which  these  sentences 
are  taken,  is  dated  June  9, 1865.  The  letter  was  written  by  a  relative,  a  con- 
fidential friend  in  fact,  of  John  C.  Calhoun.  In  the  following  language  the 
eminent  statesman  has  spoken  : 

"  Nullification  is  not  my  word.  I  never  use  it.  I  always  say  State  interpo- 
sition. My  purpose  is  a  suspensive  veto,  to  compell  the  installing  of  the 
highest  tribunal  provided  by  the  Constitution,  to  decide  on  the  point  in  dis- 
pute. I  do  not  wish  to  destroy  the  Union.  I  only  wish  to  make  it  honest. 
The  Union  is  too  strong  to  break.  Nothing  can  break  it,  but  the  slavery 
question,  if  that  can.  If  a  Convention  of  the  States  were  called,  and  it 
should  decide  that  the  protective  policy  is  constitutional,  what  then  ?  Then 
give  it  up." 


130  THE  NEWSPAPER  PRESS 

13G  to  27,  the  Ordinance  of  Nullification.  This  instrument 
ignored  certain  acts  of  Congress,  laying  duties  on  foreign 
commodities. 

A  proclamation,  denunciatory  of  this  Ordinance  was 
made  by  President  Andrew  Jackson,  dated  at  Washing- 
ton, December  10,  1832.  It  was  a  powerful  composition, 
four  columns  in  length,  and  couched  in  language  not  to  be 
mistaken.  This  proclamation,  repugnant  as  it  was  to  the 
nullifiers,  gave  hopes  and  assurances  to  those  of  the  Union 
Party. 

The  nullifiers  were  for  putting  down  the  tariff,  by  the 
action  of  one  State,  with  the  expectation  of  being  joined  by 
the  other  Southern  States.  The  Union  and  State  Eights 
Party,  were  likewise  opposed  to  the  tariff,  but  advocated  a 
Convention  of  the  Southern  States.  They  hoped  by  peace- 
ful means  to  pursuade  their  tariff  brethren  to  gradually 
lesson  the  burthens  under  which  they  labored.  It  could 
not  be  accomplished.  Parties  pro  and  con,  already  form- 
ed, increased  numerically,  civil  strife  waxed  warm,  and 
mischief — incalculable  mischief  was  threatened.  A  sover- 
eign State  had  openly  defied,  and  by  legislative  enactment, 
annulled  the  laws  of  the  Union.  The  silver  cord  so  oft 
confessed,  was  about  to  be  severed,  and  no  man  could  then 
say  at  what  hour  the  troubles  were  destined  to  burst  in  an 
overwhelming  deluge  of  ruin  and  disaster. 

With  no  intention  to  narrate  the  many  incidents  which 
were  enacted  during  a  period  when  the  result  of  one  single 
rash  act  could  not  have  been  foreseen,  the  author  continues, 
and  briefly  narrates  the  settlement  of  that  serious  domestic 
dissonance. 

Upon  the  enactment  of  Mr.  Clay's  tariff  or  compromise 
bill,  in  February,  1833,  which  was  a  substitute  for  that  of  Mr. 
Verplank's,  nullification  began  to  wane.  The  enactment 
of  Mr.  Clay's  bill,  together  with  the  cogent  influences 


OF  CHARLESTON,   S.   C.  131 

produced  by  Benjamin  Watkins  Leigh,  who  came  as 
Commissioner  from  Virginia  to  South  Carolina,  to  promote 
an  adjustment  between  a  sister  State  and  the  General  Gov- 
ernment, brought  about  a  revocation  of  the  Nullification 
Ordinance,  on  the  15th  March,  1833.  That  obstacle  hav- 
ing been  removed,  there  was  inaugurated  a  restoration  to 
harmony  in  our  State.  Then  came  that  era  of  good  feeling 
which  was  again  to  unite  all  in  the  bonds  of  social,  if  not 
political  brotherhood.  Alienated  affections  gradually  re- 
turned to  their  wonted,  but  long  deserted  channels.  The 
rankling  wounds  of  the  social,  and  even  the  family  circle, 
began  to  experience  the  healing  influences,  and  all  felt  that 
if  party  warfare  had  again  to  be  waged,  it  should  be  char- 
acterized by  the  courtesies  and  charities  of  life. 

A  review  of  the  troops  by  Governor  Hayne.  Hamil- 
ton's successor,  and  a  salute  of  one  hundred  guns,  which 
was  fired  on  the  1st  April,  1833,  bespoke  the  end  of  nulli- 
fication. Thus  it  was,  that  the  Union  was  saved,  by  the 
spirit  of  concession  and  compromise,  that  presided  at  its 
formation. 

11  Nothing  in  the  nature  of  newspaper  controversy"  said 
The  Courier  and  Enquirer,  of  New  York,  during  that  ex- 
citing time,  "  could  be  more  pointed,  or  more  pungent,  than 
"  the  weapons  of  warfare  wielded  by  The  Charleston  Courier, 
"in  doing  battle  with  the  Calhoun  cohorts  in  South  Car- 
11  olina.  It  is  almost  painful  to  stand  by,  and  see  the  exe- 
"  cution  done  by  the  grape  and  cannister,  which  the  Cou- 
"  rier  throws  into  the  nullification  ranks.  Its  shots  tell, 
"with  fearful  effect,  upon  the  Mercury  in  particular." 

The  Courier,  which  is  more  of  a  commercial  and  miscel- 
laneous than  a  political  journal,  has  nevertheless  played  its 
part,  and  that  boldly  in  the  issues  which  have,  at  different 
periods,  agitated  the  country.  In  the  era  of  nullification, 
it  was  the  leading  Union  organ  in  the  State,  and  upheld 


132  THE   NEWSPAPER  PRESS 

the  Union  cause  against  what  it  regarded  an  unconstitu- 
tional resistance  to  the  laws  of  the  Union  within  the 
Union.  It  upheld  the  cause  of  the  Union,  in  the  secession 
crisis  of  1851  and  1852,  and  threw  its  influence  in  favor 
of  co-operation  against  the  secession  element,  as  a  choice  of 
evils.  Again,  in  I860,  during  the  secession  era,  it  held  the 
election  of  a  sectional  President,  on  grounds  of  political 
and  practical  hostility  to  the  constitutional'  rights,  and 
cherished  domestic  institutions  of  the  South,  to  be  properly 
and  inevitably  the  knell  of  the  Union,  and  went  with  the 
State,  and  the  South,  in  dissolving  a  connection  with  faith- 
less confederates. 

It  is  only,  however,  when  such,  trials  become  inevitable, 
that  the  proprietors  of  journals  like  the  Courier,  should 
countenance  a  deviation  from  tenets,  akin  to  those  which 
that  journal  has  long  adhered  to,  with  determined  persis- 
tency. 

The  unavoidable  change  of  policy,  alluded  to  in  the  edi- 
torship of  the  Courier,  was  greatly  regretted  by  the  asso- 
ciate proprietors. 

Mr.  Yeadon  continued  to  conduct  the  editorial  depart- 
ment of  the  paper,  until  the  strife  of  local,  State  and  Na- 
tional politics  was  safely  over,  and  society  had  once  more 
returned  to  a  condition  of  repose.  Mr.  Yeadon  withdrew 
from  the  editorial  chair,  on  the  4th  November,  1844,  in  a 
valedictory  of  three  columns,  addressed  "  To  the  Patrons  of 
the  Courier  and  the  Public."  Then  it  was,  that  he  concen- 
trated his  labors  upon  his  exacting  profession — the  law. 
The  enticement  of  composition,  however,  upon  all  topics  of 
public  interest,  natural  to  one  of  his  remarkable  intellect- 
ual endowment,  he  could  not  resist,  and,  at  intervals  he 
contributed  to  the  columns  of  his  paper. 

With  that  stern  and  inflexible  disposition,  evinced  by 
him  when  assailed,  he  responded  to  the  gross  and  vulgar 


OF    CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  133 

attack  of  The  New  York  Herald,  when  the  latent  hostility 
of  that  journal  was  aroused  against  himself  and  his  paper, 
in  January,  1858.  The  reply  was  not  only  curt,  but  con- 
vincing. Here  is  the  article  :  "  The  New  York  Herald. — 
"  This  scurrilous  journal  has  made  a  gross,  vulgar,  and  un- 
"  provoked  attack  on  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Courier,  so 
11  utterly  at  war  with  propriety  and  decency,  as  to  require 
"  no  other  notice,  than  an  expression  of  unmitigated  con- 
11  tempt  for  the  author,  whose  notorious  venality,  destitu- 
"  tion  of  moral  sense,  and  insensibility  to  shame,  have  long 
11  since  caused  him  to  be  put  to  the  social  ban,  and  to  be 
"  tabooed  by  the  press  of  New  York,  where  he  is  generally 
"  regarded  as  a  moral  leper,  whose  touch  is  pollution,  and 
"  whose  disease  is  so  deeply  seated,  that  not  Arbana  and 
"  Pharpar,  rivers  of  Damascus,  nor  Jordan,  and  all  the  wa- 
"  ters  of  Israel,  can  wash  him  clean."  This  rebuke  was 
generally  commented  upon  at  the  time,  by  the  New  York 
and  Carolina  presses. 

In  the  capacity  of  editor,  Mr.  Yeadon  was  recognized 
as  a  man  of  power  :  of  a  vigor,  in  fact,  equal  to  that  which 
he  exhibited  as  a  lawyer.  He  wrote  clearly,  with  a  mind 
einmently  logical,  and  a  memory  stored  with  facts,  always 
ready  with  his  authorities,  and  prompt  in  seizing  the  strong 
points  of  his  argument.  Quick  and  comprehensive  in  his 
intelligence,  he  was  never  otherwise  than  patient,  and  in- 
defatigable m  investigation.  "  And  thus  working,  toiling 
"  incessantly,  day  and  night,  now  in  his  law  office,  or  in 
"  the  courts,  and  now  writing  column  after  column  for  the 
"  Courier,  this  strong  man  continued  to  labor,  until  the  de- 
"  cree  went  forth  from  the  Supreme  Governor  of  the  world, 
'•  that  his  labors  should  cease."  Sorrowing  relatives  and 
friends  witnessed  the  closing  of  his  grave,  in  the  cemetery 
of  the  Circular  Church,  on  the   afternoon  of  the  26th  of 


12 


134  THE    NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

April,  1870.  He  was  68  years  of  age,  when  his  death 
occurred. 

William  S.  King,  the  junior  of  that  co-partnership 
which  was  formed  in  1833,  was  born  at  Queenstown,  in 
the  western  part  of  the  State  of  New- York,  23d  December, 
1801.  He  had  been  for  about  twelve  years,  the  manager 
of  the  business,  mercantile,  and  miscellaneous  departments, 
when  he  succeeded,  after  the  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Yeadon, 
to  the  editorial  chair  of  the  Courier.  This  paper  had,  even 
then,  become  a  prominent  and  popular  reflex  of  public 
opinion. 

Mr.  King  was  distinguished  for  cool  judgment,  general 
intelligence,  and  for  his  indisputable  authority  among  the 
craft.  His  whole  course  of  procedure,  for  thirty -seven 
years,  while  in  the  several  departments  which  he  occupied, 
will  bear  ample  testimony  to  his  natural  gifts  and  capaci- 
ties, while  at  the  same  time,  they  will  give  equal  proof  of 
his  general  amenity  ;  his  reluctance  to  give  pain  ;  his  dis- 
like of  strife,  and  all  unnecessary  discussion. 

From  the  1st  January,  1833,  when  he  became  part  pro- 
prietor in  the  Courier,  he  devoted  himself  to  the  manage- 
ment of  its  commercial  and  business  departments.  In 
these  employments  it  will  be  admitted,  that  he  displayed 
that  zeal  and  energy  which  placed  him  in  the  front-rank 
of  his  profession.  He  was  of  a  social  and  genial  disposi- 
tion ;  a  quality,  indispensably  necessary  to  men  living  in 
this  sphere  of  society.  We  need  scarcely  say  here,  that  it 
was  the  high  appreciation  of  his  many  qualities  of  worth, 
which  moved  the  members  of  the  "  Charleston  Typograph- 
ical Society"  so  repeatedly  to  call  him  to  preside  over  their 
Society,  an  old  association  of  printers,  and  of  which  body, 
James  Grant  was  the  father,  and  founder. 

It  was  during  the  administration  of  Mr.  King,  as  editor 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  135 

and  manager,  that  the  first  line  of  steamships  was  estab- 
lished between  New  York  and  Charleston.  The  persis- 
tency evinced  by  Captain  Michael  Berry,  aided  by  the 
Courier's  unceasing  importunings,  went  very  far  in  the  ac- 
complishment of  this  important  enterprise. 

The  breaking  out  of  the  Mexican  war,  at  the  close  of 
1846,  offered  a  fine  field  for  newspaper  enterprise  in  the 
South.  The  time  then  expended  in  the  transmission  of  the 
regular  mail  between  New  Orleans  and  New  York,  was 
seven  days.  To  obtain  advices  of  the  struggle  then  about 
to  begin  in  that  distracted  country,  in  advance  of  the  mail 
facilities,  became  the  fixed  purpose  of  the  management  of 
the  Courier,  and  Moses  Y.  Beach,  of  the  New  York  Sun. 
The  telegraph  line  then  extended  only  as  far  as  Richmond, 
Virginia.  In  this  attempt  to  out-strip  government,  Mr. 
Beach  very  readily  obtained  the  co-operation  of  Mr. 
King,  and  a  "Pony  Express"  was  conjointly  established. 
It  went  at  once  into  effect,  and  the  first  intelligence  from 
the  land  of  the  Montezumas,  was  received  and  published 
in  this  City,  exclusively,  the  27th  March,  1847.  Thou- 
sands of  extras  were  gratuitously  distributed,  from  the 
office  of  the  Courier,  to  an  eager  crowd,  full  twenty-four 
hours  in  advance  of  the  United  States  Mail.  The  running 
of  this  express,  by  which  the  intelligence  was  received  and 
published  exclusively  in  this  paper,  while  the  war  lasted, 
was  of  immense  pecuniary  benefit  to  the  proprietors. 

The  point  at  which  the  regular  mail  was  out-stripped, 
was  between  Mobile  and  Montgomery,  where  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  of  staging  had  to  be  performed,  consuming 
thirty-six  hours  of  time.  This  ground  was,  by  a  contract 
made  with  J.  C.  Riddle,  to  be  covered  within'  twelve 
hours,  and  to  overtake  the  previous  day's  mail ;  the  riders 
of  the  express  taking  with  them  not  less  than  three  nor 
more  than  five  pounds  of  mail  matter.     In  this  great  un- 


13G  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

dertaking,  $750  was  paid  for  each  successful  trip.  A  fail- 
ure very  rarely  occurred.  Several  horses  were  killed,  and 
only  in  one  instance  was  the  life  of  a  rider  sacrificed  to  the 
accomplishment  of  an  adventure  quite  hazardous,  the  mo- 
dus operandi  of  which,  has  never  been  revealed.  This  was 
the  first  step  actually  taken  which  led  to  the  formation  of 
the  now  famous  "  News  Association." 

Mr.  King  was  the  first,  and  most  prominent  of  our 
Southern  editors,  whose  zealous  pen  contributed  so  exten- 
sively to  the  support  of  the  "  Electro  Magnetic  Telegraph," 
which  has  accomplished  so  much  in  revolutionizing  the 
newspaper  business.  The  limit  of  its  usefulness  to  the 
press  has,  however,  not  yet  been  reached.  This  want  was 
supplied  to  Charleston,  in  April,  1847.  The  leaders  of  the 
Courier  incessantly  plead  in  behalf  of  this  momentous 
subject,  whereby  Charleston,  like  other  commercial  empo- 
riums of  the  republic,  soon  received  and  transmitted  mer- 
cantile, military,  political  and  general  intelligence,  with 
the  speed  of  lightning.  Communication  with  Columbia, 
by  this  method  was  opened  under  the  management  of  G.  L. 
Huntington,  of  the  Charleston  office,  and  Dr.  L.  C.  Dun- 
can, of  the  Columbia  office,  at  twenty  minutes  past  four 
o'clock,  on  the  afternoon  of  December  1st,  1847,  from  the 
building  formerly  owned  by  the  "  Union  Insurance  Com- 
pany," on  State  Street,  near  Broad  Street.  The  very  first 
message  sent  was  :  "  Columbia — Do  you  get  my  writing?" 
"  Charleston — I  get  all  you  write  to  me."  The  Hon.  Wm. 
D.  Porter,  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly,  then  in 
session  in  Columbia,  received  from  Major  Alexander 
Black,  a  Director,  the  first  regular  or  business  message. 
It  was"  an  inquiry  as  to  whether  a  memorial  and  charter 
for  the  Telegraph  Company  had  been  received.  The  first 
dispatch  to  the  press,  was  received  by  the  Courier,  Mr. 
King  being  also  a  Director.     It  was  dated  at  Columbia, 


OF   CHARLESTON,   S.    C.  137 

at  8  o'clock,  P.  M.  The  first  Telegraph  line  contracted 
for  in  the  United  States,  the  reader  may  like  to  know,  was 
put  in  operation,  in  June,  1844,  between  Washington  and 
Baltimore. 

These  comments  on  the  career  of  a  practical  man  like 
Mr.  King,  should  encourage  all  young  men  of  the  craft. 
In  him  can  be  seen  a  modest  artisan  coming  to  a  strange 
land,  at  the  age  of  twenty  years,  accepting  position  as  a 
journeyman  compositor,  growing  in  public  opinion,  pros- 
perous in  fortune,  and  gathering  in  a  short  space  of 
time  a  host  of  friends  about  him.  How  was  it  that  under 
these  circumstances  he  achieved  so  much?  By  processes 
which  are  open  to  the  youngest  and  humblest  follower  of 
the  art,  chief  among  which  is  attention  to  business,  with  a 
constant  consideration  of  the  duty  which  lay  before  him. 
Society  here  has,  generally,  ranked  Mr.  King,  as  a  model 
journalist.  He  is,  therefore,  one,  whose  course  and  con- 
duct ought  to  be  studied  and  imitated. 

It  will  suffice  to  close  this  tribute  from  the  frank  and 
generous  testimonial  of  John  Milton  Clapp,  of  the  Mer- 
cury, who  terminated  his  very  feeling  eulogium  with  the 
following  compliment :  "  That  in  his  long  association  with 
11  him  of  fifteen  years,  as  neighbor  and  confrere  in  the  edi- 
11  torial  world,  he  could  recall  no  word,  or  act  of  Colonel 
"King,  which  has  need  to  be  forgiven."  Does  not  this 
go  far  to  verify  the  assertion  made  by  the  author  of  this 
humble  sketch,  that  with  the  newspaper  press  of  Charles- 
ton, there  once  existed  a  grateful  and  happy  social  organi- 
zation. 


CHAPTER    XI V. 

DEATH    OF  WILLIAM  S.   KING.  1852 — ALEXANDER    CARROLL 

SUCCEEDS     AS     EDITOR — WILLIAM      LAIDLEE JAMES     H. 

MCRRELL HENRY  M.  CUSHMAN JAMES  LEWIS  HATi'H — 

WILLIAM    B.    CARLISLE — THOMAS    Y.  SIMONS — DEATH    OF 
WILLIAM  ROGERS.   1870. 

At  the  death  of  Mr.  King,  which  occurred  March  19, 
1852,  the  editorial  duties  devolved  upon  his  assistant,  Al-' 
exander  Carroll,  the  business  management  upon  Wm. 
Laidler,  and  that  of  finance  upon  James  H.  Murrell. 

Alexander  Carroll  was  born  in  Cheltenham,  Eng- 
land, and  before  his  arrival  in  Charleston,  was  associated 
with  the  London  press.  He  came  to  his  adopted  home  in 
August,  1849,  and  through  the  instrumentality  of  Mr. 
King,  became,  for  a  while,  an  attache  of  the  Mercury ; 
subsequently,  through  the  same  influence,  aided  by  Mr. 
John  Heart,  he  was,  before  the  close  of  the  year,  called 
to  the  direction  of  the  State  Eights  Republican,  then  pub- 
lished in  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  by  I.  C.  Morgan  ;  W. 
B.  Carlisle,  the  editor,  having  withdrawn  with  the  view 
of  associating  himself  with  Edwin  De  Leon,  in  the  publi- 
cation of  The  Telegraph.  Mr.  Carroll  was  called  to  the 
editorial  staff  of  the  Courier  early  in  1851,  by  Mr.  King, 
who  desired  respite  from  duties,  which  were  most  arduous. 

In  Mr.  Carroll  were  combined  great  energy,  close  ap- 
plication and  versatility  of  intellect ;  qualities  though  in- 
dispensable, not  often  met  with,  in  an  editor.     His  power 


140  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

of  endurance,  also,  was  marvellous.  Mr.  Carroll  con- 
tinued a  faithful  worker,  up  to  the  time  of  his  illness,  and 
death.  The  latter  event  took  place  August  21,  1856,  just 
>.  \  en  years  after  his  arrival  in  Charleston.  His  remains 
were  interred  in  the  cemetery  of  St.  John's  Lutheran 
Church. 

William  La  idler,  who  became  one  of  the  proprietors 
of  the  Courier,  January  1st,  1854,  is  a  son  of  Captain  Wm, 
La  idler,  an  old  .ship  master  of  Charleston.  Mr.  Laid- 
LER,  (brother-in-law  of  the  late  Colonel  King,)  was  born  in 
this  City,  July  30,  1812.  A  thorough  craftsman,  he  began 
his  apprenticeship  in  the  office  of  The  City  Gazette  and 
l)a'dy  Advertiser,  under  James  Haig,  on  the  9th  June, 
1825.  He  was  transferred  to  the  Courier,  at  the  instance 
•of  Mr.  Willington,  in  the  summer  of  1828,  and  while  in 
the  employment  of  that  journal,  in  the  fall  of  1833,  the 
guardians  of  his  covenant  of  apprenticeship  returned  his 
"  indenture"  to  him  with  honor,  and  expressions  of  satis- 
faction for  having  been  so  faithful  in  the  performance  of 
his  duty. 

James  H.  Murrell,  whose  association  with  the  Courier 
bears  date,  March  13,  1841,  was  born  in  Stateburg,  South 
Carolina,  on  the  "High  Hills  of  Santee,"  May  12,  1814. 
His  education  was  academic,  and  under  the  tutorship  of 
the  Keverend  Jesse  Hartwell  and  Doctor  .Richard  Ba- 
ker. He  was,  subsequently,  prepared  for  West  Point,  by 
William  Capers,  nephew  of  Bishop  Capers.  When 
about  to  leave  for  West  Point,  that  institution  of  education 
became  the  scene  of  insubordination.  A  relative  and  a 
neighbor  of  Mr.  Murrell,  being-prominent  in  that  tu- 
multuary disturbance,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  change 
the  provision  of  life  thus  cut  out  for  him.  After  having 
finished  a  course  of  commercial  studies,  first  in  Camden, 
and  afterwards  in  Columbia,  he  came  to  Charleston. 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  141 

Mr.  Laidler  and  Mr.  Murrell,  are  so  well  known, 
that  it  is  not  necessary  to  point  to  the  earnest  devotion  to 
business  displayed  by  the  former,  upon  whom  devolves  the 
general  management  of  the  establishment.  Still  less,  need 
the  systematic,  courteous,  efficient  and  satisfactory  manner 
in  which  the  latter  has  administered  his  department  be 
alluded  to.  For  a  period  of  not  less  than  eleven  years, 
Mr.  Murrell  has  had  as  his  assistant,  Mr.  S.  H.  King, 
one  of  the  ablest  of  accountants,  and  third  son  of  the  late 
Wm.  S.  King. 

Henry  M.  Cushman,  the  successor  of  Mr.  Carroll,  in 
the  editorship  of  the  Courier,  was  from  New  Haven.  Con- 
necticut. He  was  called  from  the  position  of  editor  of 
The  Daily  Times,  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  in  December, 

1856.  He  was  thoroughly  educated,  a  clever  writer,  a 
skillful  selector  and  compiler  of  news,  and  well  acquainted 
with  the  duties  of  a  newspaper  office.  His  course,  as  a 
journalist  in    the  South,  was  brief.     He  died  April   13, 

1857,  and  was  buried  at  Magnolia  Cemetery. 

It  was  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Cushman  that  James  L. 
Hatch  left  the  Standard,  and  connected  himself  with  the 
editorial  department  of  the  Courier.  This  editor  will  be 
noticed  more  at  length  elsewhere,  in  connection  with  the 
Standard. 

William  Buchanan  Carlisle,  who  possessed  rare 
abilities  as  a  writer,  and  was  one  of  the  most  profound  of 
mathematicians,  was  in  turn,  and  to  the  period  of  his  afflic- 
tion, the  very  competent  editor-in-chief. 

In  August,  1857,  Josephus  Woodruff,  became  con- 
nected with  the  Courier  as  Phonographic  Beporter.  Mr. 
Woodruff  may  justly  be  regarded  as  the  first  "  Local  Be- 
porter" known  to  the  Charleston  press.  He  had  previous- 
ly been  employed  as  mailing  clerk,  at  the  office  of  the  Mer- 
cury ;  while  there  he  began  the  study  of  phonography  or 


142  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

short-hand  writing,  by  the  aid  of  Pitman's  Manual,  a 
copy  having  been  sent  to  that  office  for  review  and  notice. 
Notwithstanding  repeated  failures  in  his  early  reports,  he 
steadily  persevered  in  the  study  of  the  art,  and  has  since 
acquired  considerable  reputation  as  an  expert  reporter. 
He  was  correspondent  and  reporter  for  the  Courier,  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  1860,  which 
passed  the  act  providing  for  the  Secession  Convention  ;  as- 
sisted in  the  extended  reports  of  the  Democratic  National 
Convention  of  South  Carolina,  which  split  at  Charleston  ; 
was  almost  the  sole  reporter  for  the  Courier  during  the 
war,  and  reported  the  proceedings  of  the  Reconstruction 
Convention  of  1868.  His  connection  with  the  paper  con- 
tinued up  to  July,  1868,  at  which  time  he  was  elected 
clerk  of  the  Senate  of  South  Carolina. 

The  winter  of  1860,  found  Mr.  Henry  Sparnick,  an 
under  graduate  at  the  College  of  Charleston,  in  the  service 
of  the  Courier,  as  a  special  correspondent,  at  the  State 
Capitol.  Upon  the  assembling  of  the  Provisional  Congress 
of  the  Confederated  States,  at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  he 
went  thither  in  the  same  capacity.  When  the  seat  of  Gov- 
ernment was  removed  to  Richmond,  Virginia,  Mr.  Spar- 
nick  followed  it  there,  continuing  his  duties  as  corres- 
pondent, until  the  civil  service  of  the  Government  com- 
pelled him  to  relinquish  his  association  with  the  press.  In 
July,  1865,  he  accepted  position  as  "  City  Reporter"  of  the 
Courier.  Mr.  Woodruff's  phonographic  ability  calling 
him  to  another  department  of  the  paper.  In  that  capaci- 
ty Mr.  Sparnick  remained  until  1867,  when  he,  by  pro- 
motion, became  assistant  editor,  which  place  he  filled  until 
the  close  of  the  presidential  campaign  of  1868.  A  change 
in  his  political  convictions  made  his  continuance  with  the 
Courier  incompatible  with  the  interests  of  that  journal, 
and  he  resigned. 


OF   CHARLESTON,   S.    C.  143 

Colonel  Thomas  Young  Simons,  the  present  editor-in- 
chief  of  the  Courier,  and  who  was  called  to  that  station  in 
October,  1865,  was  born  within  distinct  sound  of  St.  Mi- 
chael's tuneful  bells,  October  1,  1828.  While  passing  to  a 
consideration  of  his  most  promising  career,  the  author  will 
remark,  that  his  youth  gave  promise  of  that  mental  capac- 
ity, which  has  been  so  advantageously  developed,  in  more 
mature  years.  After  a  successful  preparatory  course  of 
studies  at  the  Charleston  College,  he  is  next  found  tread- 
ing the  classic  ground  of  "  Yale;"  there,  he  graduated  in 
August,  1847.  On  his  return  to  Charleston,  he  became, 
in  184S,  assistant  teacher  in  the  Charleston  His;h  School, 
and  continued  until  near  the  close  of  1849  ;  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  February,  1850,  having  studied  law  with  his 
kinsman,  General  James  Simons  ;  was  elected  to  the  Legis- 
lature, in  October,  1854,  and  served  his  constituents,  faith- 
fully, until  the  autumn  of  1858,  when  he  was  returned  by 
his  constituency  to  that  body,  as  Chairman  of  the  Charles- 
ton delegation,  and  served  until  1860.  He  retired  from 
the  Legislature,  and  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Conven- 
tion, called  by  the  free  choice  of  the  people  of  South  Car- 
olina, and  which  withdrew  the  State  from  the  Federal 
Union,  December  20,  1860.  While  the  State  was  prepar- 
ing for  war,  Colonel  Simons  raised  two  companies  ;  was 
elected,  and  served,  as  Captain  of  one  of  them — the  Charles- 
ton Light  Infantry,  afterwards  company  "  B,"  27th  (Gail- 
lard's)  Regiment,  until  the  memorable  surrender,  April 
13,  1865.  Without  relinquishing  the  weightier  matters  of 
the  law,  Colonel  Simons  entered  the  ranks  of  professional 
journalists,  bringing  to  the  chair  of  editorship,  a  full  ap- 
preciation of  the  requirements,  the  dignity,  and  responsi- 
bility of  the  profession. 

In  July,  1867,  Mr.  John  A.  Moroso,  succeeded  Mr. 
Sparnick,  as  "  City  Reporter."     Mr.  Moroso  is  a  gradu- 


144  THE    NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

ate  of  the  Charleston  (Jul lege,  and  received  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Arts,  in  March,  1800,  and  subsequently,  the 
degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  in  180U.  He  was  admitted  to 
the  bar,  in  April,  1807.  Mr.  Moroso  remained  the  "Lo- 
cal" of  the  Courier  up  to  July,  1869.  Luring  the  canvass 
of  that  year,  he  was  the  traveling  correspondent  of  this 
journal,  accompanying  the  nominees  of  the  "  Reform  Par- 
ty" during  their  exciting  and  arduous  tour.  His  letters 
were  written  with  vigor  and  piquancy.  On  his  return,  in 
October,  1809,  he  was  placed,  m  the  chair  of  the  news  edi- 
tor of  the  Courier,  which  had  been  brietiy  occupied  by  Mr. 
P.  J.  M alone.     This  position  he  continues  to  hold. 

The  chair  of  "  City  Reporter,"  made  vacant  by  the  ad- 
vancement of  Mr.  Moroso,  in  the  summer  of  180U,  was 
soon  occupied  by  Mr.  F.  W.  Miller.  This  gentleman 
was,  at  one  time,  engaged  with  the  late  18.  Le  Roy  Ham- 
mond, in  the  publication  of  The  Tort  Tolio,  a  sprightly 
weekly  of  considerable  merit.  His  pen  at  various  times, 
before  and  since  the  suspension  of  that  paper,  has  con- 
tributed to  the  City  journals.  In  the  exacting  vocation 
in  which  he  now  labors,  requiring  as  it  does,  probity  and 
capacity,  Mr.  Miller  is  well  qualified  by  long  service, 
and  varied  experience,  no  less  than  by  natural  ability  and 
industry. 

The  Courier  is  indebted  in  no  small  degree  for  its  char- 
acter as  an  enlightened  ehronicler  of  transpiring  events,  to 
its  intelligent  eorps  of  correspondents,  both  foreign  and  do- 
mestic. We  may  mention  as  prominent  among  those  who 
have  been  regarded  as  regular  contributors  lrom  abroad, 
Mr.  William  Young,  as  "  O.  P.  Q.,"  and  Wm.  Henry 
Russell,  and  also  Hr.  C.  S.  King,  who,  up  to  the  summer 
of  1853,  wrote  from  Paris,  and  who  so  graphically  de- 
scribed the  secret  journey  of  himself  and  his  compatriots — 
Doctors  Turnh'seed,  Henry,  Holt,  and  Draper — from 


OF   CHARLESTON.    S.    C.  145 

the  latter  place,  through.  Brussels,  Vienna,  Jassy,  Odessa, 
Kichenew,  to  Simpheropol,  and  the  stirring  scenes  enacted 
during  the  Crimean  war,  around  the  then  Gibraltar  of  Rus- 
sia— Sebastopol.  There  are  the  names,  also,  of  Dr.  John 
D.  Bruns,  Dr.  F.  Peyre  Porcher,  Rudolph  Siegling, 
and  J.  J.  FiOKEN,  who,  as  tourists,  corresponding  for  the 
paper,  have  made  us  as  familiar  with  what  they  have 
seen,  as  if  we  had  seen  for  ourselves. 

Of  the  domestic  correspondents,  there  have  been  many. 
Most  frequent  among  them  have  been  "  Sumter,"  (Geo.  W. 
Olney,  jr.)  "  Pink,"  the  first,  (J.  W.  Kennedy)  "  D.  1. 0," 
and  "  Pink,"  the  second,  ( L.  Israels )  who  have  written 
from  New  York ;  "  Blue,"  among  others,  from  New  Or- 
leans ;  "M.  P.,"  (Miss  Pexina  Moise,)  whose  graceful 
literary  productions,  in  prose  and  verse,  from  without  and 
within  the  city,  have  been  welcomed  for  many  years ; 
(i  Juhl,"  (J.  J.  Fleming) .of  Sumter,  and  "  Leo,"  (E.  King- 
man,) who  is  authority  at  the  seat  of  Government,  and 
whose  admirable  letters,  for  a  period  of  about  thirty  years, 
have  never  been  without  interest. 

It  was  with  a  keen  sense  of  loss,  that  the  Courier,  on  the 
morning  of  16th  February,  1870,  thus  addressed  itself  to 
the  task  of  recording  the  death  of  William  Rogers  : 

"  This  gentleman,  so  long  known  to  the  habitues  of  the 
"  Courier  office,  by  his  unremitting  devotion  to  the  duties 
"  of  the  department  in  which,  for  more  than  a  third  of  a 
"  century,  he  had  moved  and  had  his  being,  passed  away 
"  from  all  earth's  cares  at  yesterday's  dawn." 

"  The  recollections  of  him,  by  many,  will  go  back  to  his 
"  first  connection  with  the  interests  of  the  Courier,  as  su- 
:<  perintendent  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange  and  Reading 
"  Room,  under  the  proprietorship,  of  his  warm  friend,  the 
"late  Colonel  Wm.  S.  King.  Protracted  and  painful  ill- 
"  ness,  for  several  months,  laid  its  iron  hand  upon  him,  and 

13 


146  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS. 

"  at  last  unwillingly  compelled  him  to  withdraw  from  the 
"  discharge  of  duties  to  which  he  had  applied  himself,  so 
"  unweariedly,  so  long,  and  so  faithfully.  He  will  be 
"  missed  by  numbers — he  was  so  well  known  to  all — but 
"  by  none  more  than  by  the  commercial  community,  who 
11  rightly  estimated  the  conscientiousness  and  rectitude, 
"  which  he  ever  displayed,  throughout  his  long  career,  as  a 
"  statistician  and  reporter  in  the  '  Prices  Current  and  Mar- 
"  kef  bureau  of  this  journal.  In  the  reputation  and  au- 
"  thority  which  the  Courier  has  earned  in  this  department, 
"  he  felt  a  just  pride  ;  and  it  was  in  him  a  labor  of  love,  to 
"  guard  and  strengthen  the  standard  which  had  been  at- 
"tained.  In  the  important  change  of  cotton  statistics,  his 
11  trust-worthiness  and  experience  were  valued  abroad,  as 
"  well  as  at  home,  and  the  occasions  of  a  recognition  there- 
"  of,  were  not  infrequent." 

"  He  had  passed  his  64th  year,  thirty-seven  of  which 
M  had  been  spent  in  the  service  of  this  journal.  From  the 
"  editorial  sanctum,  to  the  youngest  attache  of  the  Cou- 
«  rier — all  feel  sad,  that  the  kindly  greetings  of  the  plea- 
"  sant  old  gentleman,  will  salute  them  no  more — forever." 


CHAP  TEH   XV. 

THE  CHARLESTON  MERCURY — EDMUND    MORFORD  ITS  FOUN- 
DER,   JANUARY,    1822 — HENRY    L.    PINCKNEY — EXTREME 

COLD  WEATHER — AN  EXHIBITION  OF  POPULAR  FEELING 

JOHN  A.  STUART — J.  M.  CLAPP — JOHN  E.  CAREW — JOHN 
HEART,  1837-49 — WILLIAM  R.  TABER,  JR. — R.  B.  RHETT, 
JR. — HENRY  TIMROD — END  OF  THE  MERCURY. 

The  Charleston  Mercury,  a  daily  morning  print,  which 
was  established  as  a  literary  journal,  on  the  1st  January, 
1822,  by  that  classic  scholar,  Edmund  Morford,  who  had 
then  returned  to  Charleston,  was  purchased  and  converted 
into  a  political  organ  by  Henry  Laurens  Pinckney,  June 
1,  1823.  From  that  date  it  became  the  representative  of 
the  Free  Trade  and  State  Plights  Party,  of  South  Caro- 
lina, In  the  warfare  of  parties,  State  and  National,  Mr. 
Pinckney  was  excelled  by  few,  as  a  political  editor. 
Who  of  us  that  knew  him,  can  fail  to  recollect  the  marked 
bearing  of  the  accomplished  editor,  and  astute  statesman? 

From  the  time  that  Mr.  Pinckney  became  proprietor 
of  The  Charleston  Mercury,  the  editorial  management  of 
the  paper  was  assumed  by  him.  Mr.  Morford  did  not 
withdraw,  but  remained  an  editorial  attache  of  the  paper, 
until  shortly  before  his  death,  which  occurred  in  New  Jer- 
sey, February  4,  1833,  (age  51  years.)  The  Mercury  be- 
came Jefferson  Eepublican  in  principle,  yet  liberal  in  its 
tone.  The  firmness  and  tenacity  with  which  Mr.  Pinck- 
ney— who  combined,  in  more  than  an  ordinary  degree,  the 


1  1-  tup:  newspapee  press 

qualities  of  writer  and  speaker — maintained  his  own  views, 

were  always  mingled  with  a  spirit  of  conciliation  and  tole- 
rance for  the  opinions  of  others.  Mr.  Pinckney  was,  on 
the  31st  October,  1832,  succeeded  by  John  A.  Stuart, 
former  editor  of  The  Evening  Post,  to  whom  Mr.  Pinck- 
ney had  transferred  the  paper. 

Mr.  Pinckney  was  born  in  Charleston,  September  24, 
1794  ;  graduated  at  the  South  Carolina  College,  in  1812; 
sent  by  his  constituents  to  the  Legislature  at  an  early  age, 
and  became  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  in 
1831  ;  was  elected  Intendant  of  the  City  of  Charleston, 
September  3,  1832,  during  the  nullification  excitement, 
which,  as  previously  mentioned,  began  in  the  summer  of 
1831.  In  this  election,  nullification  boasted  of  a  hard 
fo  ught  victory.  The  duel  between  two  well  known  citi- 
zens, George  Robertson  and  Theodore  Gaillard,  grew 
out  of  it.  In  1833,  Mr.  Pinckney  was  elected  to  Congress 
from  Charleston  District  without  opposition ;  re-elected  in 
1835,  and  was  Mayor  of  Charleston,  in  1839.  He  was  in- 
stalled as  Collector  of  the  Port  of  Charleston,  1st  August, 
1840.  At  a  subsequent  period,  January,  1845,  he  was 
elected  Tax  Collector,  for  the  Parishes  of  St.  Philip  and 
St.  Michael. 

Mr.  Pinckney  was  a  strong  Southern  writer ;  the  author 
of  "  Memoirs  of  Doctor  Jonathan  Maxey,"  who  was  by 
the  unanimous  request  of  the  Trustees,  made  the  first 
President  of  the  South  Carolina  College,  when  that  in- 
stitution wTas  established,  in  1804.  He  also  wrote  the 
"Memoirs  of  Robert  Y.  Hayne,"  and  the  "Life  and 
public  services  of  Andrew7  Jackson."  Few  names  have 
stood  more  conspicuous  in  our  country,  than  that  of 
Pinckney,  whether  we  consider  the  services  they  have 
rendered  in  the  cabinet,  or  in  the  field.  Mr.  Pinckney 
died  February  3,  1863. 


OF    CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  149 

The  year  that  the  Mercury  came  into  existence,  was  fer- 
tile in  newspapers ;  for  besides  that  which  has  since  been 
known  as  the  leading  organ  of  the  Free  Trade  and  State 
Rights  Party,  there  were  The  Evening  Spy,  a  weekly,  and 
The  Southern  Intelligencer ;  a  daily.  It  would  seem,  that 
"  the  reapers  multiplied,  but  the  harvest  did  not  abound." 

Allusion  having  been  made  to  the  extreme  cold  weather 
of  January,  1737.  in  the  second  chapter  of  this  work,  re- 
minds us  of  an  equally  cold  snap,  which  prevailed  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1835,  and  the  particulars  of  which  are  to  be  found 
in  the  columns  of  that  once  faithful  custodian  of  State 
Rights  doctrine,  the  Mercury.  Many  of  the  present  resi- 
dents of  Charleston  remember  the  sufferings  endured  on 
the  7th  and  8th  of  February  of  that  year.  Up  to  the 
night  of  the  6th  of  that  month,  the  weather  was  comforta- 
ble ;  but  at  a  more  advanced  period  of  the  night,  a  change 
took  place.  This  change  was  accompanied  with  occasional 
but  heavy  showers  of  sleet,  with  a  growing  blast  from  the 
northwest,  which  continued  until  Saturday  morning.  At 
10  o'clock  on  the  night  of  Saturday,  the  thermometer — 
one  which  was  suspended  about  nineteen  feet  from  the 
ground,  and  which  faced  West — stood  at  14  degrees  above 
zero  ;  at  7  o'clock  Sunday  morning,  it  was  2  degrees  above 
zero,  and  from  7  A.  M.  until  12  M.,  it  remained  at  18  de- 
grees above  zero. 

Wine  and  porter,  in  bottles,  in  the  Southern  parts  of 
houses,  assumed  a  solid  form,  and  the  salt  water  in  the 
docks  andadjacent  mill-ponds  was  frozen.  It  was  in  this 
winter  that  the  orange  trees,  along  the  coasts  of  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Florida  were  killed. 

From  the  richly  freighted  columns  of  the  same  journal, 
which,  figuratively  speaking,  was  the  main  support  of  the 
commonwealth  in  its  brightest  day,  we  take  the  following 


150  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

incident,  which  was  an  exhibition  of  popular  feeling,  that 
took  place  in  Charleston,  August  21,  1835: 

Summary  punishm'ent  was,  that  day,  inflicted  upon  an 
individual  named  Richard  Wood,  who  for  a  number  of 
years,  had  been  carrying  on  at  his  shop  in  Queen  Street, 
near  East  Bay,  the  business  of  a  barber,  and  purchaser  of 
stolen  goods  from  negroes,  under  the  assumed  name  of  W. 
R.  Carroll. 

On  the  day  mentioned,  a  number  of  citizens,  prominent 
among  whom  was  John  Lyde  Wilson,  assembled  at  an 
early  hour.  Three  or  four  of  the  number  congregated, 
were  deputed  to  enter  Wood's  shop  and  bring  him  forth. 
This  was  executed  with  the  utmost  promptness  and  deci- 
sion, and  without  the  least  disturbance,  although  it  had  been 
given  out  that  certain  death  would  be  the  doom  of  the  first 
who  made  the  attempt.  Wood  was  immediately  marched 
down  to  Price's  Wharf,  (now  Accommodation  Wharf,)  tied 
to  a  post,  and  there  received  about  twenty  lashes  upon  his 
bare  back  ;  a  tub  of  tar  was  then  emptied  upon  his  head, 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  cause  it  to  extend  over  his  whole 
body,  and  the  miscreant  individual  was  decorated  with  a 
covering  of  loose  cotton,  the  principal  material  in  which 
he  had  carried  on  his  illicit  traffic,  with  much  advantage 
to  his  purse.  After  this  operation  had  been  quietly  per- 
formed, he  was  escorted  by  a  large  number  of  persons 
through  the  market,  and  the  most  public  streets  of  the 
City,  in  order  that  others,  guilty  of  the  like  practice,  should 
take  warning  by  his  fate.  He  was  then  lodged  in  jail,  to 
prevent  his  being  exposed  to  further  personal  injury. 

This  spoiler  of  the  public,  had  been,  for  a  length  of  time, 
carrying  on  his  dishonest  traffic  in  defiance  of  the  commu- 
nity, and  it  became  the  fixed  determination  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Charleston  no  longer  to  submit,  quietly,  to  such  a  system 
of  spoliation  and  robbery. 


OF    CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  151 

It  is  said  that  Wood,  alias  Carroll,  from  his  barber 
shop,  exported  about  sixty  bales  of  cotton  annually.  Sev- 
eral trunks  were  taken  therefrom,  which  contained  silver 
spoons,  fine  linen,  ladies'  apparel  complete,  bed  drapery, 
etc.  From  this  digression  we  will  return  to  the  successor 
of  Mr.  PlNCKNEY. 

John  A.  Stuart,  into  whose  hands  the  Mercury  was 
resigned  by  Mr.  Pinckney,  at  the  time  already  named, 
was  a  graduate  of  the  South  Carolina  College.  He  brought 
to  the  sanctum  of  the  Mercury,  not  only  a  well  informed 
mind,  but  exquisite  taste  in  literature  ;  was  as  playful  as 
he  was  reflective ;  was  capable  of  satire,  as  well  as  analy- 
sis ;  with  rapid  transition  "  from  grave  to  gay,  from  lively 
to  severe/'  He  scarcely  suffered  a  single  day's  paper  to 
go  forth  to  his  readers,  without  a  display  of  sound  judg- 
ment, flavored  with  keen  and  racy  wit. 

During  the  period  in  which  Mr.  Stuart  edited  the  Mer- 
cury, and  towards  the  close  of  his  editorial  career,  John 
Milton  Clapp  was  connected  with  the  paper  as  associate 
editor,  and  for  some  months,  owing  to  the  impaired  condi- 
tion of  Mr.  Stuart's  health,  it  was  under  his  sole  conduct 
and  management.  Mr.  Stuart  died  at  Beaufort,  in  this 
State,  the  place  of  his  nativity,  on  the  3d  May,  1853,  in 
the  53d  year  of  his  age. 

John  Milton  Clapp,  was  from  Pittsfield,  Ohio,  at  which 
place  he  was  born,  in  1810.  He  was  called  by  Stuart  in 
1837,  from  Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  where  he  then  was, 
to  the  assistant  editor's  chair  of  the  Mercury. 

Mr.  Clapp  was  a  writer  of  classical  taste  and  culture ; 
was  capable  of  the  most  felicitous  periods,  and,  like  Stu- 
art, endowed  with  a  keen  appreciation  of  the  humorous, 
displaying  that  quality,  not  only  in  private,  but  occasion- 
ally, also,  to  the  public.  Mr.  Clapp  graduated  at  "  Yale" 
when  in  his  21st  year.     He  was  one  of  the  ablest  of  editors, 


TIIE   NEWSPAPER   Pitt 

and  showed  it  in  all  the  high  conditions  and  exactions  of  edi- 
torial duties  and  emergencies.  Had  we  the  space,  we  could 
amply  illustrate  by  examples,  the  truth  and  justice  of  the 
distinction  which  has  been  awarded  to  him.  At  one  time 
he  editorially  conducted  the  Southern  Quarterly  Review, 
which  became  the  repository  of  articles  of  interest  to  persons 
of  widely  different  tastes  and  pursuits,  and  in  the  pages  of 
that  publication,  'the  historian,  the  antiquary,  the  genealo- 
gist, the  bibliographer  and  belles-letters  scholar  could  al- 
ways find  something  worthy  of  his  attention. 

A  sad  accident  did  much  to  shorten  his  days.  About 
2  o'clock,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  22d  September,  1852,  he 
stepped  on  a  balcony  on  the  second  floor  of  the  Mercury 
office — then  located  where  the  First  National  Bank  now 
is — when  a  portion  of  it  gave  way,  precipitating  him  a  dis- 
tance of  some  eighteen  or  twenty  feet,  on  a  brick  pavement, 
breaking  his  right  leg,  and  otherwise  injuring  him.  Mr. 
Glapp  died  in  this  City,  December  16,  1857.  His  remains 
now  rest  in  the  burial  ground  of  the  Charleston  Typo- 
graphical Society,  at  Magnolia. 

The  chair  occupied  by  Mr.  Stuart  for  about  fifteen 
years,  was  left  to  be  filled  by  Colonel  John  E.  Carew, 
who,  on  the  1st  February,  1847,  became  editor  and  sole 
proprietor  of  that  famous  journal.  This  position  Colonel 
Carew  sustained  individually,  with  marked  characteristic 
ability,  adorning  and  illustrating  that  journal  by  profound 
erudition,  classical  lore,  and  the  chastened  elegance  of  his 
pen. 

Thomas  A.  Hayden  was,  about  this  time,  the  foreman 
and  business  manager  of  the  Mercury.  He  was  a  native 
of  Florida,  and  a  printer  by  trade.  In  all  the  relations  of 
life,  his  conduct  was  such  as  to  command  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  secured  to  him  many 
warm  friends.     Mr.  Hayden  died  at  Rutherfordton,  North 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  153 

Carolina,  November  21, 1851.  He  was  succeeded  by  Adam 
0.  Cavis.  Charles  P.  L.  Westendorff  bad  charge  of 
the  commercial  department  of  the  Mercury,  for  many  years. 
Not  long  prior  to  1849,  Mr.  John  Heart— who  was  at 
the  head  of  The  Spectator  and  Young  Hickory,  the  organs 
of  the  Calhoun  Democracy,  in  Washington,  and  which  in 
1842  killed  off  Mr.  Van  Buren— was  called  from  that 
City,  and  appointed  to  a  position  on  the  Mercury ;  subse- 
quently became  one  of  the  editors,  and  on  1st  September, 
1849,  was  recognized  as  a  joint  proprietor.  The  firm  was, 
at  that  time,  announced  as  Carew  &  Heart.  Colonel 
Carew  retired  from  the  Mercury  on  the  26th  January, 
1852,  taking  leave  of  his  patrons,  gracefully,  feelingly,  and 
modestly— that  trait  so  delicately  described  by  Addison, 
':  which  sets  off  every  great  talent  which  a  man  can  be 
possessed  of."  It  was  after  the  retirement  of  Colonel  Ca- 
rew, that  John  Heart  and  William  R.  Taber,  jr.,  un- 
der the  firm  of  Heart  &  Taber,  became  the  proprietors  of 
the  Mercury. 

John  Heart,  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania, 
May  19,  1806.  He  had  active  practical  habits,  and  also  a 
large  experience  of  the  workings  of  the  press.  Members 
of  the  craft  will  recollect  that  he  was  once  President  of 
the  Charleston  Typographical  Socic-ty. 

William  P.  Taber,  jr.,  was  born  in  this  City  on  the 
18th  April,  1828.  He  was  a  graceful,  accomplished,  ver- 
satile, and  genial  writer,  and  a  good  essayist.  After  four 
years  of  editorship — short  years  to  one  so  young  and  prom- 
ising, a  sudden  ard  melancholy  event  occurred  on  the  29th 
September,  1856,  by  which  our  City  press  lost,  in  the  death 
of  Mr.  Taber,  a  distinguished  member  of  its  fraternity ; 
the  community  a  fine  scholar,  and  society  an  amiable  and 
finished  gentleman. 

While  in  the  zenith  of  his  editorial  career,  he  responded 


154  THE    NEWSPAPER   TRESS 

to  a  call  to  the  field  of  honor,  in  defence  of  a  series  of  arti- 
cles which  received  editorial  sanction.  The  result  of  the 
call  was  fatal  to  Mr.  TABEE.  He  fell  at  the  third  fire, 
11  mortally  wounded  in  the  upper  part  of  the  head,"  on 
the  Washington  Race  Course,  the  place  selected  for  the 
meeting,  at  half-past  4  o'clock,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  day 
and  year  above  mentioned,  while  vindicating  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Mercury  s  motto,  taken  from  Ovid's  Golden  Age, 
to  wit:  "  Vindice  nullo  sponte  sua  sine  lege  fides  rectum- 
que  colentur.'"  In  the  City  journals  of  the  2d  October, 
1856,  there  can  be  found  the  correspondence  relating  to 
the  cause  which  had  so  fatal  a  termination. 

Col.  R.  Barnwell  Riiett,  jr.,  became  the  purchaser  of 
the  interest  of  his  kinsman,  Mr.  Taber,  March  2,  1857. 

On  the  1st  July,  1858,  Mr.  Heart  sold  his  interest  to 
Colonel  Riiett,  and  returned  to  Washington  City.  While 
there  he  was  made  Superintendent  of  the  Printing  Bureau, 
and  was  a  successful  manager  of  that  large  and  intricate 
concern.  Mr.  Heart  subsequently — at  the  breaking  out 
of  the  war — resigned  his  position,  and  returned  to  the 
South.  Some  years  after,  he  removed  to  Memphis  and 
established  a  newspaper,  called  The  Commercial.  That 
paper  became  a  popular  organ  in  Tennessee.  Col.  Rhett 
has  since  become  known  as  sole  proprietor  of  the  Mercury. 

But  once  within  the  memory  of  the  oldest  inhabitant, 
were  the  sportive  citizens  of  Charleston  favored  with  such 
a  treat  as  was  enjoyed  by  them  on  the  17th  December, 
1851.  From  the  Mercury,  we  learn  that  early  on  the 
morning  of  that  day,  the  thermometer  indicated  a  degree 
of  cold  which  had  not  been  experienced  in  this  latitude  for 
at  least  sixteen  years  preceding  At  early  morn  the  cloudy 
canopy  of  heaven  began  dispensing  a  shower  of  snow, 
which  continued  throughout  the  day,  and  up  to  a  late  hour 
at  night.     Though  the  weather  had  not  been  such  as  to 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  155 

freeze  the  earth,  the  streets,  were,  nevertheless,  heavily- 
coated  with  snow,  and  an  opportunity  was  given  several 
spirited  individuals,  among  whom  we  recollect  to  have  seen, 
Messrs.  E.  H.  Jackson,  the  brothers  Butterfield,  Hub- 
bard, Moses  Levy  and  others,  glide  through  our  streets 
with  two  improvised  sleighs.  The  spectacle  was  quite 
creditable,  and  the  novelty  of  sleigh-riding  was  for  once 
witnessed  in  the  streets  of  Charleston. 

R.  Barnwell  Rhett,  jr.,  the  last  proprietor  of  the  Mer- 
cury, proved  himself  a  vigorous  writer.  As  editor,  he 
maintained  the  cause  of  State  Rights  and  the  South,  with 
the  same  tenacity  which  had,  for  thirty  years,  marked  the 
course  of  that  journal.  The  cause  which  that  editor  so 
earnestly  advocated,  had  an  able  and  ardent  advocate  in 
his  coadjutor — Edmund  Rhett,  his  younger  brother.  The 
columns  of  the  Mercury  will  attest  the  boldness  and  vigor 
of  the  trenchant  pen  of  this  writer,  and  it  was  in  support 
of  the  principles  of  that  journal  that  he  pre-eminently  dis- 
tinguished himself.  "  Almost  before  he  was  entitled  to  the 
toga  virilis,"  writes  a  friend,  "  he  took  high  rank  among  the 
thinkers  of  the  period,  and  placed  himself,  side  by  side, 
with  the  strong  men  who  were  to  fight  the  great  battle,  the 
result  of  which  was  to  decide  the  future  destiny  of  thirty 
millions  of  the  human  race." 

In  the  summer  of  1860,  Wm.  A.  Courtenay  was  invited 
to  take  charge  of  the  business  department  of  the  Mercury, 
and  entered  upon  the  duties  on  the  1st  October,  following. 
In  the  ensuing  three  months,  he  made  a  thorough  and  ad- 
vantageous change  in  the  business  details  of  the  office,  and 
introduced  into  the  establishment,  one  of  Hoe  &  Co's  dou- 
ble cylinder  presses,  upon  which  the  paper  was  printed  up 
to  the  time  its  material  was  removed  to  Columbia.  At  the 
close  of  the  following  year  he  withdrew  from  the  Mercury, 
and  entered  the  army  of  the  Confederate  States,     Captain 


156  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

Courtenay  brought  to  the  management  of  the  Mercury, 
a  well  cultivated  and  active  business  mind,  which  still 
maintains,  in  other  vocations,  all  its  energies,  with  increas- 
ed usefulness. 

Yet  another  name  is  linked  with  the  chain  which  con- 
nects the  editorship  of  that  paper.  It  is  that  of  one  of  Caro- 
1  ina's  poets — Henry  Timrod.  As  editor,  whether  writing 
from  the  sanctum  of  The  South  Carolinian,  published  in 
Columbia,  by  the  graceful  and  discursive  writer,  F.  G.  de 
Fontaine,  the  sedulous  printer,  Julien  A.  Selby  (the  pre- 
sent proprietor  of  the  Columbia  Phoenix,  whose  comprehen- 
sion of  all  the  multifarious  details  which  are  met  within 
his  sisyphean  task  is  well  known)  and  himself,  in  the  fourth 
year  of  the  war,  or  from  the  "  Local's'^  chair  of  the  Mer- 
cury, his  style  was  uniformly  elegant.  Is  not  his  "  Vision 
of  Poesy"  entitled  to  this  distinction  ? 

The  name  of  Timrod  will  descend  to  posterity,  unex- 
celled by  any  Southern  Poet,  as  suggestive  of  chasteness, 
gentleness,  and  purity  of  style  ;  always  graceful,  imagina- 
tive and  tender. 

With  pride  and  pleasure  does  the  author  mention,  that 
he  was  one  of  Mr.  Timrod's  earliest  and  most  intimate 
acquaintances,  and  that  the  Poet,  from  his  youth  to  man- 
hood, and  up  to  the  period  of  his  death,  regarded  him  as  a 
friend  in  whom  he  could,  and  did  confide  the  innermost 
workings  of  one  of  the  most  sensitive  of  hearts.  The 
career  of  this  genius — genius  gushing  with  tender  and  holy 
emotions,  was  too  soon  closed.  He  died  in  Columbia,  on 
the  8th  October,  1867.     He  went  to  his  rest 

"Like  .-i  bright  exhalation  in  the  Evening, 

And  no  man  saw  him  more.'' 

These  were  the  men  who  stood  prominently  before  the 
public,  as  the  master  minds  of  that  renowned  political  jour- 


OF   CHARLESTON,   S.    C.  157 

nal — that  brilliant  advocate  of  the  pure  government  of  the 
fathers,  in  defence  of  which  it  showed  a  vigor  and  genius 
which  made  it  peerless  in  its  day.  It  is  a  subject  of  regret, 
even  with  the  many  of  those  who  differed,  toto  ccelo,  from 
the  political  doctrines  of  the  Mercury,  that  it  should,  at 
last,  have  been  forced  to  succumb  with  the  thousands  of 
fallen  fortunes  of  our  City.  It  was  the  ruthless  torch  of 
Major-General  Sherman's  legions  which  forced  the  sus- 
pension of  the  Mercury ',  in  February,  1865.  Its  material 
being  in  Columbia,  at  the  time  that  band  of  vandals  visited 
it,  fell  a  prey  to  the  devouring  torch  applied  to  the  beauti- 
ful capital  of  the  State ;  an  act  which  the  genius  of  histo- 
ry should  blush  while  blotting  her  pages  with  its  record, 
and  which  will  ever  remain  a  stain  upon  the  military 
escutcheon  of  its  destroyer. 

Colonel  Ehett  resumed  the  publication  of  the  Mercury, 
November  19,  186G.  During  the  last  two  years  of  its  ex- 
istence, ending  in  November  of  1868,  its  associate  editors 
were  F.  W.  Dawson,  PiOswell  T.  Logan,  R  M.  Fuller, 
and  Doctor  H.  Baer.  The  general  abilities  of  the  Mer- 
cury, irrespective  of  its  politics,  always  made  it  a  popular 
favorite. 

14 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

THE  SOUTHERN  STANDARD — ITS  PROPRIETORS  AND  EDI- 
TORS— ITS  RESISTANCE  TO  SEPARATE  STATE  ACTION — 
TRIUMPHANT  IN  ITS  PRINCIPLES — END  OF  THE  STAND- 
ARD—  HOSTILE  ENCOUNTER  OF  HATCH  AND  CUNNINGHAM. 

The  Southern  Standard  was  another  morning  paper. 
It  Lad  daily,  tri-weekly  and  weekly  editions,  and  was  the 
successor  of  The  Sun;  in  fact,  was  first  published  with 
the  material  which  was  purchased  from  the  proprietors  of 
that  paper.  It  was  founded  by  Messrs.  B.  C.  Pressley, 
Ker  Boyce  and  M.  C.  Mordecai.  "  Perseverance  keeps 
honor  bright,"  was  its  motto.  The  Standard  came  into 
existence,  on  the  1st  July,  1851,  under  the  editorship  of 
B.  C.  Pressley,  assisted  by  "W.  C.  Richards,  who  was, 
for  about  five  years,  the  editor  of  a  periodical  called  The 
Southern  Literary  Messenger,  and  Dr.  T.  C.  Serine,  for- 
merly editor  of  The  San.  A.  G.  Magrath  and  S.  Y. 
Tupper  frequently  wrote  for  this  paper.  The  place  of 
publication  was  then  in  the  rear  of  the  "  Exchange." 

The  proprietors  of  The  Southern  Standard  were  induced, 
by  the  perils  and  necessities  of  the  times,  to  establish  in 
Charleston,  an  organ  opposed  to  the  agitating  question  of 
secession  of  South  Carolina.  The  Resistance  or  Co-opera- 
tion Party  of  the  State  was  not  divided  as  to  her  right  to 
secede  ;  but  many  were  convinced  that  such  a  movement 
at  that  time,  would  be  fatal  to  the  cause  of  resistance.  It 
must  have  been  with  the  greatest  reluctance  that  the  pro- 


160  THE  NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

prietors  took  the  step  during  that  political  condition  of  the 
State,  to  widen  that  division,  or  do  that  which  would 
make  it  thus  apparent  to  the  enemies  of  the  principles 
which  actuated  the  proprietors  of  the  Standard.  It  was 
not  free  for  the  paper,  it  seemed,  to  choose  in  the  matter. 
The  issue  came  in  such  a  form  as  made  silence  and  self- 
respect  wholly  inconsistent  with  each  other.  It  was  as- 
serted, in  the  face  of  the  fact,  that  the  State  was  pledged  to 
secession,  and  that  the  supposed  minority  was  bound  to 
submit.  And  if,  as  it  were,  to  make  their  position  more 
odious,  arguments  were  daily  promulgated,  and  very  gen- 
erally, from  the  press  throughout  the  State,  based  upon 
the  further  groundless  assumption,  that  the  issue,  then 
pending,  was  separate  secession  or  submission.  The  Stand- 
ard, did  not  choose  to  be  bound  by  pledges  which,  as  it  al- 
leged, the  State  never  made,  nor  to  accept  an  issue  which 
it  regarded  as  unfair  and  deceptive,  and,  therefore,  the 
publication  of  the  paper  was  put  forth  in  defence  of  the 
principles  of  themselves  and  their  party,  which  were  that 
the  State  was  bound  by  the  action  of  her  General  Assembly 
up  to  1850,  to  await  the  action  of  the  other  Southern 
States. 

The  Standard  was  successful,  in  the  fall  of  1851,  in 
bringing  about  a  test  vote  by  the  people,  as  to  whether 
South  Carolina  should  alone  sever  her  connection  with  the 
Union,  or  whether  the  Southern  States  should  act  conjoint- 
ly. The  result  of  this  vote  was  against  separate  secession, 
and  the  State  Convention,  which  had  been  previously 
elected,  adopted  a  compromise  course. 

In  October,  1852,  five  more  prominent  gentlemen  became 
associated  with  the  founders  of  the  Standard,  and  a  stock 
company  was  formed — the  first  instance  with  the  Charles- 
ton press,  subsequent  to  1828.  The  stock  company  of  the 
Standard  was   composed  of  Messrs.   Ker   Boyce,  M.   C. 


OF    CHARLESTON,   S.    C.  161 

Mordecai,  B.  C.  Pressley,  L.  W.  Spratt,  E.  H.  Brit- 
ton,  W.  D.  Porter,  James  Tupper,  and  Jacob  Cohen. 
The  combined  wealth  of  the  individual  shareholders,  was 
estimated  at  six  millions  of  dollars. 

Mr.  B.  C.  Pressley,  withdrew  from  the  editorial  chair, 
June  14,  1853.  His  mantle  fell,  gracefully,  on  L.  W. 
Spratt.  For  about  eight  months  the  paper  was  published 
by  Spratt,  Britton  &  Co.  Those  facile  editors — B.  C. 
Pressley,  L.  W.  Spratt,  J.  L.  Hatch,  and  the  very 
practical  and  energetic  E.  H.  Britton,  gave  to  that  paper — 
the  title  of  which  was  changed  in  October,  1853,  to  The 
Charleston  Standard — their  untiring  devotion,  and  as  news- 
paper editors,  did  much  in  limiting  the  range  of  errors. 

Mr.  Britton  began  his  apprenticeship  to  the  business 
in  the  office  of  The  City  Gazette,  and  finished  his  time  in 
the  office  of  the  Mercury \  He  left  Charleston  and  went  to 
Columbia,  in  this  State,  in  1840,  and  there,  in  1847,  re- 
vived The  Southern  Chronicle.  He  removed  to  Winns- 
boro'  in  1848,  and  published  The  Fairfield  Herald  and 
Register.  He  returned  to  Charleston  in  1853,  as  associate 
proprietor  and  editor  of  the  Standard.  He  returned  to 
Columbia  and  bought  out  The  Columbia  Times.  Mr. 
Britton  has  since  settled  finally  in  Charlotte,  North  Car- 
olina, where  he  established  The  Charlotte  Bulletin,  which 
he  is  still  conducting. 

Mr.  S.  R.  Crocker,  who  edited  the  paper  after  Mr. 
Hatch,  in  consort  with  J.  D.  Budds,  its  business  manager 
and  collector,  struggled  persistently,  though  unsuccessful- 
ly, to  sustain  it.  The  Standard  was  not  published  after 
June  25, 1858.  Messrs.  Pressley  and  Spratt  had  before 
that  period,  confined  themselves,  exclusively,  to  the  prac- 
tice of  the  law,  which  has  since  given  them  their  deserved 
celebrity.  Mr.  Crocker  returned  to  his  home  in  New 
England.     He  is  now  the  publisher  of  The  Literary  World, 


162  THE    NEWSPAPER    PRESS 

a  monthly  journal  of  Boston,  Massachusetts.  Mr.  BuDDS 
became  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  Mercury,  down  to 
the  period  of  the  forced  discontinuance  of  that  journal. 

William  D.  Clancy,  was,  for  a  brief  period,  near  the 
close  of  1857,  assistant  editor  of  the  Standard.  His  con- 
nection with  that  paper,  was  not  sufficiently  long,  however, 
to  experience  the  reality  that  although  cares,  responsibili- 
ties and  fatigues  had  to  be  encountered,  the  position  of 
editor  had,  nevertheless,  its  rose-hued  pleasures. 

Mr.  Hatch,  of  whom  mention  has  already  been  made, 
was  from  New-Gloucester,  in  the  State  of  Maine.  He  was  a 
young  man  of  much  energy  and  talent ;  one  of  the  swiftest, 
of  stenographers,  and  reported  in  full,  for  the  Standard, 
the  memorable  ^Eriel  murder  case,  which  took  place  in 
February,  1856.  He  also  reported  and  published,  in  pam- 
phlet form,  "  Rights  of  Corporators  and  Reporters,"  being 
a  lengthy  report  of  the  case  of  "  R.  W.  Gibbes,  editor  of 
the  Columbia  South  Carolinian,  vs.  E.  J.  Arthur,  Mayor 
of  Columbia,  S.  C,  and  John  Burdell,  Chief  of  Police," 
which  was  tried  in  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  for  Rich- 
land District,  March  term,  1857.  It  was  an  issue  made 
by  Dr.  Gibbes,  with  the  City  Council  of  Columbia,  as  to 
the  right  of  a  citizen  to  attend  their  public  meetings,  and 
report  their  proceedings,  if  he  saw  fit. 

A  poignant  attack  in  the  Standard  of  23d  July,  1856 — 
the  work  of  Mr.  Hatch's  pen,  editor  pro  tern,,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  Mr.  Spratt — severely  animadverted  upon  the 
political  expressions  of  Colonel  John  Cunningham,  then 
editor  of  The  Evening  News.  Mr.  Hatch,  though  by 
birth  a  New  Englander,  had  become  strongly  Southern  in 
his  political  sentiment,  and  conceived  that  the  editor  of 
The  Evening  Nexus  had  spoken  uncivilly  of  the  course 
taken  by  the  Southern  delegation  then  in  Washington, 
"insinuating,"  Mr.  Hatch  said,  "  that  our  delegation  in 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  163 

Congress  have  done  nothing,  and  can  do  nothing  that  will 
contribute  to  or  consist  with  the  welfare  of  the  State, 
that — in  its  mildest  form  of  expression — they  have  exhibit- 
ed a  want  of  statesmanship.  Moreover,  that  the  members 
of  this  same  delegation  have  been  influenced  in  their  pub- 
lic conduct  by  a  consideration  of  the  spoils."  This  was 
during  the  Brooks  and  Sumner  embroglio.  The  caustic 
leader  in  the  Standard,  met  with  a  taunting  response  from 
the  News.  This  led  to  a  correspondence  between  the  two 
editors,  which  terminated  in  a  hostile  meeting.  The  en- 
counter, which  took  place  in  close  proximity  to  the  Wash- 
ington Race  Course,  was  bloodless,  and  after  an  exchange 
of  shots,  an  amicable  adjustment  of  the  difficulty  was 
effected. 

Mr.  Hatch  fell  a  victim  to  the  epidemic  of  1858 — the 
vellow  fever — dying  on  the  25th  September,  of  that  year, 
in  the  26th  year  of  his  age.  The  skillful  medical  treat- 
ment and  personal  attention  of  Doctor  Peter  Porcher, 
at  whose  home  Mr.  Hatch  was  staying,  could  not  prevent 
the  death  of  one,  who,  had  he  lived,  could  not  but  have 
been  prominent  as  a  journalist.  That  gallant  corps,  the 
Washington  Light  Infantry,  of  which  he  was  a  member, 
took  charge  of  the  body  of  their  comrade,  and  deposited 
it  in  their  sepulchre  at  "  Magnolia."  They  were,  subse- 
quently, removed  to  a  neighboring  spot,  in  the  same  "  city 
of  the  dead.'' 


CHAPTEE   XVII. 

MONTHLY  AND  QUARTERLY  PUBLICATIONS  OMITTED  —WEEK- 
LY PAPERS — THE  CATHOLIC  MISCELLANY  UNDER  BISHOP 
ENGLAND,  AND  OTHERS,  1822 — POPE  PIOUS  ?TH  AND  BISH- 
OP    ENGLAND — DEATH    OF    THE     LATTER,    1842 — END     OF 

THE  MISCELLANY,  1861 THE  WESLEYAN    JOURNAL,  AND 

ITS  EDITORS — THE  CHARLESTON  OBSERVER — BENJAMIN 
GILDERSLEEVE  AND  OTHERS,  1826 — THE  OBSERVER,  ITS 
REMOVAL  TO  RICHMOND  AND  ITS  FAILURE — THE  SOUTH- 
ERN CHRISTIAN  SENTINEL REVEREND    THOMAS    MAGRU- 

DER  AND  W.  C.  DANA — THE  SOUTHERN  PRESBYTERIAN, 
REVEREND  N.  BAIRD,  AND  ITS  OTHER  EDITORS — THE 
SOUTHERN  BAPTIST,  AND  ITS  EDITORS. 

We  have  purposely  avoided  speaking  of  the  few  Quar- 
terly, and  of  the  several  Monthly  and  Weekly  publica- 
tions— six  of  the  latter  will  be  excepted — which  from  time 
to  time  were  issued,  and  to  which  the  struggle  of  1812,  was 
instrumental  in  giving  life  and  vigor.  They  were  too 
ephemeral,  to  have  a  place  in  this  history.  If  we  omit 
three,  it  is  likewise  the  case  with  the  Periodical  Press  of 
Charleston,  which,  in  its  purport,  is  not  the  less  effective. 
Of  this  more  elementary  branch,  we  no  not  propose  to 
speak. 

The  six  hebdomadals,  however,  were  solid,  and  outlived 
opposition.  They  were  The  United  States  Catholic  Mis- 
cellany, The  Wesley  an  Journal,  The  Southern  Christian 
Sentinel,  The  Charleston  Observer,  The  Southern  Presbyte- 
rian, and  The  Southern  Baptist, 


166  THE    NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

The  Miscellany  came  into  existence  under  the  control 
and  editorship  of  the  Right  Reverend  Doctor  John  Eng- 
land, first  Bishop  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Diocese  of 
Charleston,  on  the  5th  June,  1822.  For  some  cause  not 
now  known,  the  Miscellany  was  discontinued,  but  was  re- 
sumed after  an  interval  of  one  year,  on  the  7th  Januarv, 
1824. 

A  writer  in  the  Courier,  who  signed  himself  "  A  Metho- 
dist," thus  alluded  to  Bishop  England's  discourse,  in  fa- 
vor of  the  Greek's,  delivered  Sunday,  25th  January,  1824  : 
"  The  picture  which  Bishop  England  drew  of  Grecian 
misery,  was  calculated  to  move  the  coldest  enemy  of  liber- 
ty and  religion." 

The  Miscellany,  which  was  printed  at  different  times  by 
Thomas  Martin,  jr.,  John  Healey,  Jeremiah  Denne- 
hy,  William  J.  Mosemann,  Walker  &  James,  and  last- 
ly by  the  then  well  known  firm  of  Harper  &  Calvo,  had 
among  the  priesthood,  many  able  contributors.  The  most 
prominent  were  Bishops  England  and  Reynolds,  Reve- 
rend R.  S.  Baker,  Vicar  General  under  Bishop  England, 
Reverend  J.  F.  O'Neill,  Very  Reverend  Doctors  Corco- 
ran and  Lynch — the  latter  now  the  highly  intellectual 
and  esteemed  Bishop  of  the  Diocese,  appointed  to  the  See 
of  Charleston,  in  January,  1858 — and  Birmingham,  the 
present  Vicar  General,  and  others. 

Bishop  England's  chief  literary  labors  were  bestowed 
upon  the  paper  he  was  so  devoted  to.  Its  editorial  columns 
were  continually  supplied  with  the  fruits  of  his  clear  and 
gifted  intellect. 

John  England  was  born  in  the  City  of  Cork,  23d  Sep- 
tember, 1786.  At  an  early  period  he  entered  the  College 
of  Maynooth,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Irish  metropolis  ;  after 
leaving  college  he  placed  himself  under  the  tutorship  of  an 
eminent  barrister,  with  whom  he  studied  law  for  about  two 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  1G7 

years.  He  then  relinquished  the  legal  profession  for  the 
ministry,  and  entered  the  Theological  College  of  Carlow, 
where  he  completed  his  ecclesiastical  course  of  studies 
with  distinction.  He  was  ordained  a  priest  in  1808,  at  the 
early  age  of  22,  and  entered  on  the  duties  of  the  ministry 
in  Cork. 

This  young  priest,  with  eight  different  functions  already 
enjoined  upon  him,  became  the  editor  of  the  Cork  Morning 
Chronicle,  in  which  office  he  mastered  the  typographical 
art.  "  With  the  same  promptness  to  perceive,  and  daring  to 
perform,  which  always  marked  his  subsequent  course,  he 
wielded  his  pen  in  one  bold  denunciation  of  the  moral  dee- 

o 

radation  of  his  unhappy  country,  the  corruption  of  judges, 
and  the  packing  of  juries.  He  stemmed  the  political  tor- 
rent which  had  already  swept  before  it,  many  that  were 
dear  to  him.  In  that  denunciation,  this  patriot  priest 
made  issue  wTith  the  tory  Lord  Lieutenant  Earl  Talbot, 
the  English  representative.  Though  this  Catholic  editor 
had,  in  that  article,  engraven  upon  the  people  their  rights, 
it  was,  nevertheless,  at  a  cost  of  tive  hundred  pounds." 
The  Court  before  which  he  was  summoned,  in  addition  to 
the  fine,  decreed,  also,  his  close  confinement,  until  the 
pecuniary  penalty  was  paid.  So  firmly  did  the  people  de- 
termine to  protect  these  rights,  that  the  mother  of  Mr. 
England,  from  the  gallery  of  ladies  above,  at  the  close  of 
her  son's  masterly  defence,  exclaimed:  "  Well  done,  my 
dear  son.  In  my  hand  I  have  a  check  for  the  amount ; 
write  but  another  essay,  expose  again  the  tyranny  of  the 
persecutors  of  your  church,  and  your  country,  and  I  shall 
meet  the  forfeit,  though  it  be  double  the  amount  of  this  !" 

This  editor  and  priest  is  said  to  have  allowed  his  name 
to  be  placed  among  those  who  were  willing  to  go  forth  to 
new  fields  of  labor.  But  he  affixed  this  condition,  that  he 
should  be  sent  to  some  country  over  which  the  English 


1G8  THE    NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

held  no  control.  This  proviso  to  the  priest's  name,  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  Pope  Pius  7th,  at  the  time  a  new 
See  for  the  Carolina's  and  Georgia  was  about  being  made. 
The  Pope  knew  the  priest's  record,  and  appointed  him, 
in  1820,  to  the  new  prelacy,  though  only  in  his  thirty- 
fourth  year.  He  came  from  Belfast,  in  the  ship  Thomas 
Getston,  and  arrived  in  Charleston,  on  the  last  day  of  that 
year.  Under  these  circumstances  was  it,  that  this  man, 
whose  name  is  one  of  the  proudest  in  the  list  of  prelates, 
distinguished  for  strength  of  mind,  power  of  argument, 
deep  and  various  learning,  and  a  bold  and  impressive  elo- 
quence, was  transferred  to  our,  then,  unoppressed  land, 
and  became  one  of  the  literary  ornaments  of  our  City. 

In  private  life  also,  this  distinguished  editor  was  greatly 
esteemed,  and  the  author  well  remembers  how  wonderful 
was  the  charm  he  threw  around  it.  He  possessed  a  na- 
ture, warm  and  overflowing  to  a  class  who  revered  him. 
And  yet,  the  regard  for  him  was  not  bounded  by  monastic 
vows  or  rules,  for  among  the  immense  throng  who  visited 
the  remains,  until  the  interment  of  this  pious  defender  of 
his  church,  there  were  to  be  seen  the  Catholic,  the  Hebrew, 
the  Episcopalian,  the  Lutheran,  the  Baptist,  the  Congre- 
gationalist,  the  Methodist,  the  Universalist,  the  Unitarian, 
and  the  Presbyterian — the  various  sects  into  which  our 
people  are  divided.  Bishop  England  was  taken  from  his 
field  of  labors,  by  the  Providence  of  God,  on  the  11th 
April,  1842,  in  the  56th  year  of  his  age. 

The  Miscellany  was  printed  in  octavo  form,  and  was  the 
first  regular  organ  of  the  Catholics  in  the  United  States, 
receiving  as  it  did,  the  support  of  Catholics,  generally, 
throughout  America.  It  was  changed  to  a  super-royal 
sheet  in  1824.  It  was,  at  that  time,  the  strong  advocate 
for  a  modification  of  the  laws  then  in  force  against  aliens, 
before  they  could  possibly  acquire  the  benefits  of  citizen- 


OF    CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  1G9 

ship.  Its  discontinuance  was  owing  entirely  to  the  de- 
struction of  all  its  material,  in  the  great  fire  of  December, 
1861. 

The  first  Methodist  weekly  newspaper  published  in  the 
South,  and  the  second,  in  point  of  time,  in  the  United 
States,  was  published  in  Charleston,  under  the  title  of 
The  Wesley  an  Journal.  It  was  projected  by  the  late  dis- 
tinguished Stephen  Olin,  D.D.,  then  a  resident  of  this 
State,  and  subsequently,  President  of  the  Wesleyan  Uni- 
versity. The  South  Carolina  Conference  then  embraced 
Georgia,  and  this  body  adopted  the  Journal,  as  its  organ, 
and  made  arrangements  for  a  more  extended  publication. 
The  Wesleyan  Journal  made  its  debut  on  the  1st  October, 
1825,  under  the  editorial  supervision  of  Reverend  Doctor 
William  Capers,  of  South  Carolina.  The  health  of  Doc- 
tor Olin  having  failed  him,  it  was,  after  a  couple  of  years, 
merged  in  The  Christian  Advocate,  a  coherent  journal  which 
was  started  in  New  York,  during  the  autumn  of  1826; 
thence  it  was,  that  it  took  the  title  of  Christian  Advocate 
and  Journal.  The  lapse  of  ten  years  showed  that  a  great 
central  organ  at  New  York,  however  ably  conducted,  could 
not  supersede  the  home  demand  for  religious  literature  and 
representation.  Accordingly,  resolutions  were, adopted  at 
the  General  Conference,  held  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  in  1836, 
authorizing  the  publication,  in  this  City,  of  a  weekly  reli- 
gious journal,  called  Southern  Christian  Advocate.  Doctor 
William  Capers  was  elected  as  editor.  The  first  number 
was  published  June  21, 1837.  The  paper  had  no  printing 
office,  but  was  "  worked  off"  at  the  job  printing  establish- 
ment of  Mr.  James  S.  Burges  ;  and  the  editor  acted  as 
his  own  clerk.  The  Advocate  came  out,  in  form,  vastly 
superior  to  The  Wesleyan  Journal.  The  leading  editorials 
were  more  elaborate,  the  selections  more  varied,  and  adapt- 
ed to  the  popular  taste.     Doctor  Capers  stood  up,  firmly, 

15 


170  THE    NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

for  the  rights  of  his  portion  of  the  ecclesiastical  connection. 
"  He  was  earnest,"  says  his  biographer,  "  and  high-minded 
in  his  advocacy  of  all  the  great  measures  subscribing  to  the 
spread  of  Christian  influence — educational,  missionary,  and 
literary.  But  he  did  not  warm  to  a  work  which  was  not, 
to  him,  a  labor  of  love." 

At  the  General  Conference,  held  in  Baltimore,  in  May, 
1840,  Doctor  Capers  resigned  the  editorship  of  the  paper. 
He  was  succeeded  by  Reverend  Doctor  Wm.  M.  Wight- 
man,  who  was,  by  the  same  Conference,  appointed  his  suc- 
cessor. Dr.  Wightman  entered  upon  his  duties  in  No- 
vember, 1840.  During  the  interval,  Reverend  Doctor 
Whitefoord  Smith,  who  was  then  stationed  in  the  City, 
assumed  the  editorial  chair  pro  tern.  Dr.  Wightman  was 
a  native  of  Charleston,  and  a  graduate  of  the  College  of 
Charleston.  He  had  youth  and  enterprise  in  his  favor ; 
wielded  a  facile  and  polished  pen.  With  the  increasing 
income  of  the  paper,  an  office  was  fitted  up  in  Pinckney 
Street,  and  a  Hoe's  cylinder  press  purchased,  and  the  reg- 
ular routine  of  a  first  class  journal  was  entered  upon. 
Subsequently — June  7,  1850 — the  press  was  propelled  by 
steam.  It  was  the  second  application  of  this  motive  power 
to  newspaper  press- work  in  this  City. 

In  1844,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  divided, 
by  mutual  consent,  into  its  present  Northern  and  Southern 
organizations.  During  the  perilous  times  which  ensued, 
the  Southern  Christian  Advocate  was  one  of  the  great  sheet- 
anchors  of  the  South.  The  judicious  course  of  the  editor 
was  commended  by  the  General  Conference. 

Benjamin  Jenkins,  a  native  of  Bermuda,  was  the  first 
foreman  of  the  Advocate.  He  quitted  a  similar  position  in 
the  office  of  The  Charleston  Courier,  to  accept  that,  a  less 
arduous  one.  He  was  a  good  Hebraist  and  classical  scholar  ; 
was  master  of  the  principal  modern  languages,  and,  alike, 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  171 

master  of  his  own  business.  Having  been  appointed  a 
missionary  to  China,  he  took  orders  in  1848,  and  sailed 
from  Boston  to  Shanghai.  He  subsequently  held  the  posi- 
tion of  Interpreter  in  the  United  States  Consulate  General. 
Mr.  C.  Canning,  of  Ireland,  succeeded  Doctor  Jenkins, 
in  the  foremanship  of  the  Advocate,  and  still  retains  the 
position. 

In  1850,  Reverend  Doctor  Thomas  0.  Summers,  an  En- 
glishman by  birth,  was  appointed  assistant  editor  of  the 
Advocate,  and  was  associated  with  it  four  years.  His  crit- 
ical acumen,  and  sensitive  poetic  taste,  with  his  varied  at- 
tainments, were  acquisitions  to  the  journal.  The  sheet  was 
enlarged,  and  the  subscription  list  extended,  at  the  time 
Doctor  Wightman's  term  of  service — fourteen  years — 
closed.  While  recognized  as  the  fearless  defender  of  evan- 
gelical religion,  according  to  the  views  of  the  denomination 
of  Christians  whom  it  represented,  its  tone  was  always 
courteous,  its  spirit  genial,  and  the  ability  of  its  editorials 
sustained  ;  in  fact,  it  became  a  power  in  religious  jour- 
nalism. 

When  Doctor  Wightmax  accepted  the  Presidency  of 
Wofford  College,  in  1854,  the  Reverend  Doctor  E.  H.  My- 
ers, of  Georgia,  was  elected  his  successor,  in  the  editorial 
management  of  the  paper.  This  Divine  brought  energy 
and  business  talent  to  sustain  its  financial  department. 
The  paper  was  again  enlarged,  and  removed  to  apartments 
more  commodious,  in  Hayne  Street.  During  the  desola- 
tion consequent  upon  the  late  war,  it  was  deemed  advisable 
to  remove  the  office  of  publication  to  Augusta,  Georgia. 
Subsequently,  it  was  removed  to  Macon,  Georgia.  The 
war  having  left  it  without  any  resources  that  would  insure 
its  continuance,  it  was  sold  to  Messrs.  J.  W.  Burke  &  Co., 
prominent  publishers  of  that  City,  and  by  whom  it  is  at 
present  published.     The  Advocate  is  a  double  sheet,  of 


172  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

eight  columns  each,  measuring  29  by  22  inches,  and  printed 
in  the  best  style,  on  excellent  paper. 

The  Charleston  Observer  was  the  organ  of  the  Presbyte- 
rians, and  was  established  by  the  Reverend  Benjamin 
Gildersleeve,  who  came  to  Charleston  from  Hancock 
County,  Georgia.  It  was  conducted  by  the  members  of  the 
Charleston  Union  Presbytery.  The  leading  object  of  this 
publication,  was  to  make  its  readers  early  acquainted  with 
the  progress  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  at  home  and 
abroad  ;  both  as  it  related  to  the  labors,  and  conflicts  of  his 
servants,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  gracious  influences  of 
his  spirit,  on  the  other.  Assurances  were  at  the  same 
time  given  to  its  patrons,  by  the  editor,  that  while  carrying 
out  this  benign  design,  he  would  also  communicate  such 
information  representing  the  affairs  of  government,  and  the 
advancement  of  literature  and  science,  as  an  enlightened 
mind  would  desire  to  receive.  Prominent  as  writers  in 
support  of  this  weekly,  were  B.  M.  Palmer,  D.D.,  A.  W. 
Leland,  D.D.,  F.  C  Henry,  D.D.,  Reverend  W.  A.  Mc- 
Dowall,  and  Reverend  A.  Buist. 

The  first  appearance  of  the  Observer  was  in  July,  182G. 
It  was  issued  regularly  in  Charleston,  from  the  office  of  the 
paper,  Chalmers  Street,  near  Meeting  Street,  until  the  26th 
July,  1845.  On  the  8th  August,  of  the  same  year,  its  pro- 
prietor, who  stood  high  among  the  Titans  of  controversy, 
changed  its  place  of  publication  to  Richmond,  Virginia, 
there  to  be  united  with  The  Watchman  of  the  South.  It 
was  issued  from  that  City  as  The  Watchman  and  Observer \ 
August  21,  1845.  The  change  impaired  its  vitality,  and 
in  Richmond  it  died,  but  a  few  years  before  the  war.  Mr. 
Gildersleeve  now  lives,  in  his  declining  years,  in  the 
"  Old  Dominion."  Mr.  John  Cudworth,  a  practical  prin- 
ter of  this  City,  and  one  who  has,  long  ago,  laid  aside  the 
implements  of  the  craft,  was  his  foreman  and  general  su- 


OF   CHARLESTON,   S.   C.  173 

perintendent,  for  full  nineteen  years — the  length  of  time 
it  was  published  in  Charleston.  In  the  office  of  that  pa- 
per, the  present  foreman  of  the  Courier,  Mr.  Oean  Bas- 
sett,  well  known  to  the  craft,  served  his  apprenticeship. 

The  Southern  Christian  Sentinel  made  its  appearance  in 
Charleston,  March  2d,  1839.  Reverend  Thomas  Magru- 
der,  a  Georgian  by  birth,  was  editor,  assisted  by  Reverend 
W.  C.  Dana.  The  Sentinel  was  the  organ  of  the  Charles- 
ton Union  Presbytery,  during  the  agitation  consequent  on 
the  disruption  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  United 
States,  by  certain  acts  of  the  Assembly  in  1837-38.  The 
Charleston  Union  Presbytery  had  disapproved  those  acts, 
as  being  "  unconstitutional  and  unjust."  This  disapproval 
was  imputed  to  them  as  a  crime ;  and  they  were  denied 
their  rights  as  members  of  the  Synod.  But  Providence  des- 
tined for  them  a  signal  and  almost  unexampled  vindication 
of  the  rectitude  of  their  course.  The  "  Old  School"  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  1852,  meeting  in  Charleston,  and  becom- 
ing acquainted  with  the  facts,  re-instated  them  in  their 
rights  ;  and  lately,  the  whole  Presbyterian  community — 
"  Old  School"  and  "  New"— at  the  North,  where  the  "  un- 
pleasantness" originated,  have  given  the  strongest  proof  of 
their  disapproval  of  those  acts,  by  becoming  again  one 
Church. 

Reverend  Thomas  Magruder  was  a  man  of  the  purest 
integrity  and  honor,  incapable  of  indirection,  and  uniting 
with  a  guileless  nature,  inflexible  adherence  to  principle. 
It  was  impossible  for  him  to  be  an  unscrupulous  partisan, 
or  a  narrow-minded  bigot.  In  Christian  simplicity  and 
transparency  of  character,  he  resembled  another  firm  friend 
and  ally  of  the  Sentinel — the  late  Reverend  Dr.  B.  M. 
Palmer,  once  pastor  of  the  Circular  Church. 

The  closing  years  of  Mr.  Magruder's  life  were  spent  in 
Madison  County,  Mississippi,  where  property  had  been  left 


174  TTTE    NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

him  by  a  near  relative.  As  long  as  declining  years  per- 
mitted, be  preached,  for  the  most  part  gratuitously,  and 
with  great  acceptance.  He  died  in  1853.  A  beautiful 
tribute  was  paid  to  his  memory,  by  those  who,  taking 
"  sweet  counsel"  with  him  as  a  clerical  brother,  had  learned 
to  appreciate  his  solid  mental  qualities,  and  his  great  moral 
worth. 

Reverend  W.  C.  Dana,  whose  pen  freely  contributed  in 
aid  of  the  Sentinel,  was  born  in  Newburyport,  Massachu- 
setts, in  1810 ;  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College,  New 
Hampshire.  He  completed  his  theological  studies  in 
Andover ;  spent  one  session  at  Princeton,  and,  several 
at  Columbia,  in  this  State.  He  was,  in  November,  1835, 
called  to  the  Third  Presbyterian — now  Central — Church 
of  this  City,  and  is  the  devout  and  much  loved  pastor  of 
that  Congregation. 

The  Southern  Christian  Sentinel  was  originated  as  a  local 
and  temporary  necessity ;  it  was  not  expected  to  be  self- 
sustaining.  Generously  aided  by  a  few  friends,  and  edited 
gratuitously,  it  was  continued  as  a  weekly  paper  through 
the  years  1839-'40  ;  and  as  a  monthly  periodical,  to  the 
end  of  1841.  In  its  valedictory  were  quoted  these  pro- 
phetic lines  : 

"  Truth,  crushed  to  earth,  shall  live  again  ; 

The  eternal  years  of  God  are  her's  ; 
But  error,  wounded,  writhes  in  pain, 

And  dies,  amid  her  worshipers.'' 

The  Southern  Presbyterian,  the  most  variable  of  the 
hebdomadals,  was  first  published  at  Milledgeville,  Geor- 
gia, and  edited  by  Reverend  Washington  Baird,  before 
it  was  removed  to  Charleston.  After  twelve  months  pub- 
lication, it  was  sold  to  a  company  composed  of  Joseph  A. 
Enslow,  John  M.  Fraser,  William  Harral,  James 
M.  Caldwell,  and  others.    It  was  then  printed  and  issued 


OF   CHARLESTON,   S.    C.  175 

by  that  well  known  printer,  John  B.  Nixon,  in  Meeting 
Street,  next  South  of  the  Hibernian  Hall.  Subsequently, 
early  in  1856,  Archibald  Campbell  became  the  manager, 
and  directed  it  for  the  said  share  holders,  until  the  spring 
of  1857,  when  he  relinquished  the  position,  to  assume  the 
duties  of  City  Treasurer. 

Archibald  Campbell  was  born  in  Greenock,  Scotland, 
August,  1799.  He  was  the  only  son  of  Robert  Campbell, 
of  the  British  Navy.  Archibald  Campbell  will  be  re- 
membered as  an  able,  pure  and  just  man.  These  attributes 
enabled  him  to  hold,  for  nearly  thirty  years  of  his  life,  the 
offices  of  clerk  of  the  Court,  and  Commissioner  of  Equity  for 
Beaufort  District.  He  died  at  Summerville,  October  21, 
18G6.  The  editors,  at  that  period,  were  Reverend  J.  L. 
Kirkpatrick  and  Reverend  B.  Laxxeau.  About  1857, 
Reverend  Dr.  W.  M.  Cunningham  assumed  the  editorship, 
and  published  it  at  the  printing  office  of  Messrs.  James 
&  Williams,  at  No.  16  State  Street,  nearly  opposite  Chal- 
mers Street.  Early  in  the  war,  the  material  was  removed 
to  Columbia,  and  while  there,  Reverend  A.  A.  Borter 
took  editorial  charge  of  the  paper.  Finally,  it  passed  un- 
der the  control  of  Reverend  John  B.  Adger  and  El  am 
Sharp.  The  title  of  this  religious  weekly  has  been  chang- 
ed to  Southern  Presbyterian  Index,  and  is  now  in  success- 
ful operation  at  the  State  Capital,  under  the  superintend- 
ence and  editorship  of  Reverend  James  Woodrow,  D.D. 

The  last,  though  by  no  means  the  least  of  these  weekly 
prints,  was  Thr  Southern  Baptist.  This  paper  was  started 
in  the  fall  of  1839,  by  Reverend  T.  W.  Haixes,  a  native 
of  Tennessee.  He  was  its  publisher  and  editor,  assisted 
for  about  two  years  by  Reverend  William  T.  Braxtly, 
D.D.,  and  Reverend  Thomas  Curtis,  D.D. 

Doctor  Braxtly  was  one  of  the  earliest  students  of  the 
South  Carolina  College,  having  graduated  with  distinction, 


176  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

in  1808.  He  was  a  man  of  enlarged  and  cultivated 
mind;  delighting  equally  in  the  walks  of  literature  and 
science.  A  holy  man  of  God,  eminently  useful  in  his  voca- 
tion and  generation  ;  more  beloved,  the  more  intimately 
known.  He  was  stricken  with  paralysis,  which  affected 
both  mind  and  body.  He  died  in  Augusta — whither  he 
had  removed,  in  the  hope  of  alleviating  his  suffering  con- 
dition—February 28,  1849. 

Doctor  Curtis,  was  an  Englishman,  of  the  old  school, 
perfected  by  the  crowning  graces  and  influences  of  humble, 
fervent  and  exemplary  piety.  For  many  years  before  he 
came  to  America,  he  was  a  leading  reporter  of  the  debates 
in  the  English  Parliament.  He  came  to  this  country  about 
the  year  1833,  and  settled  in  Bangor,  Maine.  In  1841,  he 
accepted  a  pastoral  call  for  the  Wentworth  Street  (Second) 
Baptist  Church,  of  this  City.  This  Divine  attained  eminent 
distinction  in  the  world  of  letters,  and  found  ready  access 
into  high  literary  circles.  While  in  Charleston,  he  took 
great  interest,  and  actively  co-operated  in  the  formation  of 
a  Society  for  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  day.  He  like- 
wise, took  an  active  part  in  the  formation  of  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention,  held  in  the  City  of  Augusta,  in  May, 
1845,  and  ever  manifested  a  lively  interest  in  all  institu- 
tions of  charity  and  benevolence.  Doctor  Curtis  lost  his 
life  on  board  of  the  North  Carolina,  one  of  the  Bay  Line 
steamers,  while  she  was  making  her  trip  from  Baltimore 
to  Norfolk,  on  the  night  of  January  28,  1859. 

The  Baptist,  in  the  spring  of  1849,  passed  into  the  hands 
of  a  Committee,  who  became  managers  and  editors.  Reve- 
rend  J.  R.  Kendrick,  B.  C.  Pressley  and  James  Tup- 
per,  composed  the  Committee.  From  1848  to  the  spring 
of  1849,  Reverend  Jas.  P.  Boyce  edited  it  for  the  Com- 
mittee, with  great  vigor,  and  contributed  his  private  means 
in  its  aid.     During  the  successful  career  of  this  journal, 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  177 

Reverend  E.  T.  Winkler,  D.D.,  ably  presided  over  its 
editorial  department.  In  a  controversy  conducted  by  hirn 
at  that  time,  his  pen  gave  evidence  of  great  erudition. 
The  Baptist  was,  at  a  later  period,  edited  by  other  pleas- 
ing and  talented  writers,  the  Reverend  J.  P.  Tustin  and 
the  Reverend  W.  B.  Carson.  Its  suspension  occurred 
while  it  was  under  the  management  of  Reverend  Mr.  Car- 
son, not  from  any  want  of  capacity,  but  from  unavoidable 
circumstances. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

THE  CONTEMPORANEOUS  PRESS  OF   1871 THE  CHARLESTON 

DAILY  NEWS,  AND  ITS  CORPS  EDITORIAL — THE  SOUTH 
CAROLINA  LEADER,  T.  HURLEY  AND  OTHERS — THE  SUED- 
LICHER  CORRESPONDENT — THE  REFEREE — THE  SOUTHERN 
CELT — THE  SUNDAY  TIMES — THE  WORKING  CHRISTIAN. 

The  author  has  brought  down  and  blended  history  and 
biography  quite  up  to  the  opening  of  the  year  1871.  The 
want  of  a  more  extended  record  prevents  him  from  enter- 
ing upon  similar  details  in  regard  to  the  present  represen- 
tatives of  local  journalism. 

They  constitute  the  following:  The  Charleston  Daily 
News,  which  paper  was  presented  to  its  patrons  and  the 
public  through  the  instrumentality  of  Benjamin  Wood, 
George  E.  Cathcart,  James  W.  McMillan  and  Man- 
dred  Morton,  on  the  morning  of  August  14,  1865.  Mr. 
Wood  was  the  proprietor  of  The  Daily  News,  of  New 
York  ;  Mr.  Cathcart,  a  native  of  Spartanburg  County,  in 
this  State,  and  was,  at- the  time,  the  New  York  correspond- 
ent of  the  London  Morning  Post;  Mr.  McMillan,  a 
Charlestonian,  and  a  very  practical  member  of  the  craft, 
and  Mr.  Morton,  said  to  be  a  nephew  of  Mr.  Wood.  Mr. 
Wood  supplied  the  means  for  the  enterprise.  To  Mr. 
Cathcart  was  assigned  the  responsible  duties  of  editor, 
and  to  Mr.  McMillan  was  apportioned  the  exacting  duties 
of  business  manager.  Mr.  Morton,  unlike  his  co-partners, 
was  entirely  unknown   to  the   fraternity  of  editors  in  the 


180  THE    NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

City.  Quite  dissimilar  to  any  other  Charleston  daily,  pre- 
viously published,  no  line  of  policy  was  marked  out  for 
this  paper.  It  was,  of  course,  to  be  a  Southern  journal, 
representing  Southern  interests,  but  it  was  not  to  be  under 
the  control  of  any  one  man  or  party,  other  than' was  deem- 
ed advisable  by  the  editor.  The  News  was  established  at 
a  period  favorable  to  the  undertaking,  and  under  the  edi- 
torship of  George  R.  Cathcart,  assisted  by  L.  W.  Spratt, 
A.  G.  Magrath,  W.  H.  Trescott,  J.  Barrett  Cohen, 
James  Lowndes,  Dr.  H.  Baer,  Roswell  T.  Logan,  and 
John  D.  Miller,  the  paper  acquired  prosperity  and  pop- 
ularity as  it  went  forth  from  the  office  of  publication,  18 
Hayne  Street.  In  October,  1867,  the  co-partnership  of 
Cathcart,  McMillan  &  Morton  was  dissolved,  and  the 
entire  management  of  the  paper  devolved  upon  Messrs. 
Riordan,  Dawson  &  Co. 

B.  R.  Riordan  is  the  senior  of  the  firm  now  conducting 
The  Charleston  Daily  News.  He  was  born  in  Fairfax 
County,  State  of  Virginia,  in  1839.  He  graduated  at  Mt. 
St.  Mary's  College,  Maryland,  in  1858.  It  was  in  the 
office  of  the  Washington  Union  that  he  received  his  news- 
paper training.  In  1859,  he  became  connected  with  the 
editorial  staff  of  the  New  Orleans  Delta.  He  was  sent  by 
the  proprietors  of  that  journal  to  represent  their  paper  in 
the  Democratic  National  Convention,  which  assembled  in 
this  City,  April  23,  1860,  and  came  with  the  delegation, 
in  the  steam  ship  Coatzacoalcas.  In  the  summer  of  1860, 
he  became  connected  with  The  Charleston  Mercury,  and 
on  the  retirement  of  George  A.  Gordon,  in  September  of 
the  same  year,  he  accepted  the  position  of  managing  editor 
of  that  paper;  there  he  remained  until  just  before  the 
evacuation  of  Charleston.  Since  the  war,  he  was,  for  near- 
ly a  year,  on  the  staff  of  the  Richmond  Examiner.  In  the 
winter  of  1866,  he  accepted  position  as  one  of  the  assistant 


OF    CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  181 

editors  of  the  Courier,  and  continued  in  that  capacity  until 
shortly  before  he  became  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the 
News. 

F.  W.  Dawson,  of  the  News,  was  born  in  London,  Eng- 
land, in  1840.  At  the  time  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  war 
between  the  Confederate  States  and  the  Federal  Union,  he 
was  engaged  on  the  editorial  staff  of  a  London  newspaper. 
In  December,  1861,  he  enlisted  at  Southampton,  England, 
as  a  sailor  on  the  Confederate  steam  ship  Nashville.  On 
the  arrival  of  the  steamer  at  Beaufort,  North  Carolina,  early 
in  1862,  he  was  appointed  a  Master's  Mate  in  the  Navy  of 
the  new  Confederacy.  This  position  he  resigned  in  June, 
1862,  and  joined  the  "  Purcell  Battery,"  Hill's  Division, 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  as  a  private.  In  August, 
1862,  he  was  commissioned  First  Lieutenant  of  Artillery, 
and  assigned  to  duty  as  ordnance  officer,  on  the  staff  of 
General  Longstreet.  In  the  spring  of  1864,  he  was  pro- 
moted to  a  Captaincy  of  Artillery,  and  in  the  fall  of  the 
same  year,  was  tranferred  to  the  staff  of  General  Fitz 
Hugh  Lee,  where  he  served  until  the  end  of  the  war. 
When  the  Kichmond  Examiner  was  revived  in  1865,  Mr. 
Dawson  became  one  of  its  "  Local  Reporters."  After  the 
Examiner  had  been  suppressed  by  the  United  States  mili- 
tary authorities,  Mr,  Dawson  accepted  a  position  among 
the  corps  of  editors  of  the  Richmond  Dispatch,  and  held 
it  until  the  fall  of  1866,  when  he  became  the  assistant  edi- 
tor of  The  Charleston  Mercury,  as  previously  mentioned, 
November  19,  1866.  This  position  he  held  until  October, 
1867,  when  he  became  one  of  the  proprietors  and  editors  of 
The  Charleston  Daily  News. 

The  first  "  City  Editor"  of  the  Daily  News,  was  the  pop- 
ular paragraphist  and  humorist,  James  H.  Simmons.  His 
ready  pen,  which  has  given  much  aid  to  this  journal,  was 
first  recognized  in  the  columns  of   The  .South  Carolinian, 

16 


182  Tin:  newspaper  press 

when  it  was  resumed  in  Charleston,  in  January,  18G6. 
The  Carolinian  having  suspended  in  the  summer  of  that 
year,  Mr.  Simmons  accepted  the  "Local"  chair  of  the  News, 
then  conducted  by  Messrs.  Cathcart,  McMillan  &  Mor- 
ton. He  was  indefatigable  in  the  discharge  of  his  du- 
ties, and  known  for  the  "lightness  of  his  brow,"'  and  the 
dawning  smile  of  pleasantry  in  his  countenance,  uniting 
humor  with  seriousness,  and,  seemingly,  caring  for  nothing 
so  much  as  a  mirth-moving  jest.  He  was  succeeded  in  this 
department  of  the  office  by  F.  D.  Lee,  who  was  called 
from  the  office  of  the  Savannah  News,  in  June,  1869.  Mr. 
IjEE — after  his  association  with  the  paper  which  lasted  un- 
til October,  1870 — quitted  the  "  Local"  chair  for  another 
field  of  usefulness,  in  the  City  of  Augusta,  Georgia. 

The  South  Carolina  Leader  was  the  production  of  Tim- 
othy Hurley.  T.  Hurley  &  Co.  were,  after  the  first 
few  numbers,  announced  as  the  publishers,  and  Allen 
Coffin  was  recognized  as  the  editor.  The  first  number  of 
this  weekly  appeared  Saturday,  October  7,  1865,  from  their 
office,  430  King  Street.  In  the  salutatory  article  of  the 
paper  its  patrons  were  informed  that  it  Would  be  devoted 
to  the  interests  of  "  Free  Labor  and  General  Reform.'-  Its 
motto  was  from  St.  Mark,  4th  chapter,  28th  verse  :  "  First 
the  blade,  then  the  ear,  after  that,  the  full  corn  in  the  ear." 
Before  the  (y)ear  filled,  the  dream  of  Mr.  Hurley  had 
flitted  away.  The  Leader  became  mutable  in  its  proprie- 
torship, until  the  spring  of  1867,  when  it  became  the  prop- 
erty of  a  stock  company,  at  the  head  of  which  was  the 
Reverend  R.  H.  Cain,  with  A.  J.  Ransier  as  the  editor. 
Its  title  was  changed  April  7,  1868,  to  The  Missionary 
Record.  R.  H.  Cain,  who  is  now  the  publisher  and  edi- 
tor, is  a  colored  preacher  of  the  Gospel ;  he  has,  measura- 
bly, modified  the  ultra  proclivities  of  the  paper.  R.  H. 
Cain  is  a  native  of  Greenbrier  County,  Virginia,  and  came 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  183 

to  Charleston  from  New  York  City,  in  April,  1865.  The 
Record  is  still  published  and  edited  by  him,  at  the  office 
in  Morris  Street. 

The  South  Carolina  Republican  was  also  a  weekly  news- 
paper. It  was  founded  October  10,  1868,  and  after  two 
other  weeklies,  The  Free  Press,  and  The  Charleston  Advo- 
cate had  each  run  a  very  brief  career.  The  suspension  of 
these  two  latter  papers,  left  no  "  blank  in  nature." 

The  founders  of  the  Republican  were  J.  M.  Morris  and 
Myron  Fox.  Mr.  Morris  graduated  at  "  YaleM  with  the 
highest  valedictory  honors,  and  before  he  reached  the  age 
of  33,  was  prominent  in  political  organizations,  between 
the  years  1865  and  '68.  He  became  the  boldest  champion 
of  Republican  principles  in  South  Carolina.  Mr.  Fox  has 
given  evidences  of  fine  intellectual  endowment,  and  his 
scholar-like  editorials  in  defence  of  the  principles  of  his 
paper,  were  calculated  to  sustain  the  dignity  and  worth  of 
the  Charleston  press. 

The  first  place  of  publication  of  the  Republican  was  at 
the  printing  office  of  Messrs.  Dexxy  &  Perry.  Subse- 
quently, it  was  removed  to  the  Xorth-East  corner  of  Meet- 
ing and  Calhoun  Streets  ;  thence  to  its  present  site,  where, 
on  the  19th  August,  1869,  their  daily  first  appeared.  Both 
the  weekly  and  the  daily — the  latter  now  enjoying  a  mo- 
nopoly of  afternoon  intelligence — were  established  in  the 
interest  of  the  Republican  Party,  by  the  individuals  nam- 
ed, and  during  the  periods  above  mentioned.  It  is  now 
issued  from  the  building  South- West  corner  of  Market  and 
Meeting  Streets.  The  assistant  editors  are  Pi.  II.  \Yil- 
loughby  and  E.  Gr.  Hoffman.  In  Mr.  Charles  Sammis, 
the  business  manager,  there  are  combined  candor,  and 
sound  common  sense,  ejualities  conducive  to  the  success  of 
a  daily  newspaper. 

The  organ  of  the  German  population,  is  The  Suedlicher 


184  THE   NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

Correspond  ait.  It  was  established  by  C.  G.  Erckman,  in 
January,  18G9.  Its  placs  of  publication  is  on  North  side 
of  Broad  Street,  two  doors  West  of  Church  Street.  It  is 
the  third  of  the  German  organs,  strictly  national  in  repre- 
sentation, known  in  the  City.  The  first,  The  Teutone,\va.s 
started  by  John  A.  Wagner,  in  1844.  It  was  then  print- 
ed South  side  of  Broad  Street,  West  of  the  Guard  House. 
The  Teutone  became  by  purchase,  the  property  of  F.  Mel- 
chers,  in  October,  1853.  The  latter  proprietor  changed 
its  title  to  The  Zcitunij,  at  that  time.  From  that  period 
until  the  State  called  her  sons  to  arms  in  1861,  Mr.  Mel- 
chers  conducted  this  Teutonic  semi-weekly,  not  only  ably, 
but  quite  successfully.  In  January,  1871,  The  .Zeituiuj 
was  revived  by  F.  Melchers  &  Son.  General  John  A. 
Wagner,  and  Captain  F.  Melchers  have  largely  con- 
tributed to  the  editorial  columns  of  The  Teutone,  The 
Suedlicher  Correspondent,  and  The  Deutsche  Zcitung,  three 
newspapers  which  have  deservedly  received  the  approba- 
tion and  support  of  our  thriving  German  population. 

The  Referee,  weekly — E.  Durbec,  proprietor,  was  estab- 
lished June  12,  1869.  It  is  printed  at  the  office  of  the 
paper,  235  King  Street,  and  distributed  gratis,  the  pub- 
lisher depending  solely  upon  the  advertising  patronage  of 
a  paper,  which  is  in  size,  only  23  by  32. 

The  Southern  Celt,  an  Irish-American  hebdomadal,  was 
established  in  January,  1870 ;  L.  C.  Northrop  was  the 
first  editor  and  proprietor.  The  Celt  was  formerly  The 
Gazette,  a  Catholic  organ,  which  was  established  by  Messrs. 
Caulfield  &  Ford,  in  January,  1866.  That  firm  sold  to 
Bishop  Lynch,  who  purchased  it  for  J.  D.  Budds  ;  Father 
J.  D.  Quigley  was  the  editor,  and  the  printer  was  that 
experienced  member  of  the  craft,  Conn  O'Neale.  The 
Celt  is  now  published  by  James  Brennan,  and  is  issued 


OF   CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  185 

weekly  from  the  printing  establishment  of  The  Daily  Re- 
publican. 

The  Sunday  Times  is  another  weekly,  as  its  title  denotes. 
This  paper,  which  is  published  in  Hayne  Street  by  J.  "W. 
Dela.no,  made  its  bow  for  public  patronage  on  the  morn- 
ing of  Sunday,  20th  March,  1870. 

The  last  newspaper,  and  one  which  has  just  taken  its 
place  on  the  list  of  hebdomadal  publications  of  Charleston, 
is  that  called  The  Working  Christian.  It  was  established 
in  the  interest  of  the  Baptist  denomination,  at  Yorkville, 
South  Carolina,  by  Reverend  Tilman  R.  Gaines.  In 
May,  1870,  it  was  removed  to  this  City.  The  Working 
Christian  is  issued  from  68  Hasel  Street. 

To  allude  further  to  our  contemporary  press,  would  be 
invidious  and  uncalled  for.  The  living  journals  of  the 
day  speak  for  themselves,  through  the  work  and  bearing 
of  those  who  control  them.  But  beginning,  as  it  were,  a 
new  epoch,  emerging  from  ruins  under  the  most  embarrass- 
ing influences  of  political  and  pecuniary  affairs,  it  will  be 
well  to  refer  the  craft,  to  the  examples  we  have  given  of 
their  predecessors. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

The  amount  of  material  of  an  historical  nature  that  ac- 
cumulates gradually  on  the  files  of  a  daily  journal,  is 
astounding,  and  would  scarcely  be  realized  by  any  but 
persons  whose  habitudes  and  necessities  of  research  have 
led  them  frequently  to  explore  such  sources.  Appreciating 
this  fact  to  more  than  an  ordinary  extent,  we  are  struck 
with  the  reality  that  the  press  which  chronicles  all  things, 
often  over-looks  its  own  exploits  and  triumphs. 

While  upon  this  topic,  we  would  suggest  that  our  Caro- 
lina press  might  in  more  respects  become  auto-biographi- 
cal, and  relate  its  own  experience.  In  other  words,  might 
not  important  and  interesting  additions  be  made  to  our 
State  history,  if  each  County  journal  now  extant,  would 
furnish  a  full  and  authentic  narrative  of  its  establishment 
and  location  of  the  press  in  its  section0  Landmarks  might 
thus  be  established,  so  that  hence  the  retrospective  observ- 
er of  the  progress  of  the  State,  as  well  as  its  journalistic 
efforts  would  not  meet  with  difficulties  akin  to  those  that 
have  beset  one  who  has  endeavored  to  ascertain  how  mat- 
ters stood  one  hundred  and  forty  years  ago. 

There  was  one  feature,  beautiful  indeed,  in  the  life  of 
journalism  in  our  halcyon  days,  which  should  be  revived. 
It  was  the  fraternal  spirit  in  which  our  predecessors  lived 
and  met  together  :  their  frequent  re-unions;  their  chival- 
rous deportment;  the  amenity  and  courteousness  with 
which  they  wrote,  precluded  provocation,  to  the  most  sen- 


188  THE   NEWSrAPER  TRESS 

sitive  nature.  They  sustained,  as  has  been  said,  a  perfect 
organization  among  themselves,  which,  socially,  was  rarely 
ruptured.  They  took  no  undue  advantage  of  each  other, 
reciprocated  all  courtesies,  and  were,  especially,  above  the 
fault  of  competing  with  each  other's  prices,  for  the  sake  of 
temporary  gain,  to  the  common  loss  of  all,  and  to  the  dis- 
paragement of  the  profession.  Courtesy  is  one  of  the  ex- 
acting conditions  in  the  life  of  a  profession  like  that  of 
journalism,  which  may  be  said  to  "  live,  move,  and  have  its 
being,"  in  armor. 

The  tone  and  temper  of  the  Charleston  press,  in  that  era 
of  good  feeling,  has  been  very  correctly  depicted  -by  a  wri- 
ter who  has  signed  himself  "  S.  G."  That  writer  we  take 
to  be  the  late  talented  and  courteous  Divine,  Samuel  Gil- 
man,  D.D.,  in  whose  language  dissimulation  found  no  rest- 
ing place.  "  S.  G."  thus  marked  the  course  of  the  press  in 
a  letter  written  from  Charleston,  in  the  summer  of  1842 : 

"In  my  early  impressions"  wrote  "  S.  G.,"  "nothing 
struck  me  more  pleasantly,  than  the  air  of  high-bred  courte- 
sy which  characterized  the  intercourse  of  the  public  journals 
with  each'  other ;  and  though  I  have  been  a  daily  reader 
of  the  Courier,  Mercury  and  Patriot,  I  have  never  read  in 
their  papers  a  gross  allusion,  or  an  indelicate  remark  ;  nor, 
though  I  perceive  they  are  diametrically  antagonistic  in 
political  sentiment,  has  one  indulged  towards  the  other 
in  bitter  invective,  or  violent  animosity.  I  can  attribute 
this  to  no  cause  but  the  refinement  which  is,  certainly,  pe- 
culiar to  Charleston." 

Frequent  intercourse,  and  interchange  of  sentiment  are, 
doubtless,  advantageous  to  the  mutual  interests  of  the 
press.  There  can  be  no  reason  why  the  example  set  by 
our  predecessors  should  not  be  observed  by  the  proprietors 
and  editors  of  newspapers,  not  only  those  of  the  City,  but 


OF    CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  189 

by  the  press  of  the  State,  at  large  ;  for  it  has  a  high  mission 
to  perform,  and  responsible  duties  to  discharge. 

Editors  occasionally  show  themselves  careless  of  that 
courtesy  which  is  due  to  contributors,  who  deserve,  and 
should  receive  respect,  even  if  their  desires  are  not  strictly 
complied  with  ;  to  the  public,  to  whom  the  deportment  of 
an  editor  should  ever  be  the  model  of  propriety,  politeness, 
and  the  most  graceful  social  observances.  Time  and  again 
have  we  seen  in  days  past,  individuals  who  demanded  to  be 
heard  through  the  columns  of  one  of  the  papers,  depart 
from  the  sanctum  of  the  editor,  fully  convinced  that  the 
responsive  monosyllable  no  !  so  affably  given,  covered  a 
comprehensive  reasoning,  which  they  did  not  at  first  per- 
ceive. This  is  a  style  of  courtesy  which  should  be  first 
in  the  vocabulary  of  journalism,  and  is  known  only  to  the 
true  editor.  This  lesson  is  important,  when  it  is  considered 
that  in  working  out  the  duties  of  journalism,  the  business 
is  of  such  a  nature  as  perpetually  to  demand  the  exercise 
of  a  gentlemanly  and  Christian  amenity. 

It  is  admitted  that  there  is  no  vocation  which  may  more 
easily  be  perverted  to  the  indulgence  of  spite,  malice,  dis- 
like, and  a  rivally  which  too  frequently  ends  in  prejudices 
never  to  be  subdued.  These  evils  are  due  to  many  causes, 
the  greatest  of  thein  being  a  diseased  eagerness  for  gain. 
When  the  competition  is  great,  and  the  profit  meagre,  this, 
as  is  well  known,  is  one  of  the  fruitful  causes  which  bring 
into  life  the  evil  demon  of  egotism  and  self-seeking.  The 
danger  is  that  this  demon  will  acquire  strength  daily,  espe- 
cially, it  is  to  be  feared,  among  the  diurnal  press,  South  of 
that  geographical  and  political  boundary  line  which  was 
first  made  memorable  to  all  America,  by  Charles  Mason 
and  Jeremiah  Dixon,  one  hundred  and  seven  years  ago. 
And  yet,  if  the  true  and  faithful  editors  of  the  South  would 
pause  and  reflect,  they  would  discover  that  it  is  just  now  of 


L90  THE    NEWSPAPER   PRESS 

more  importance  to  them  than  all  else  beside,  that  they 
should  wort  with  one  common  will,  to  instruct  mankind; 
to  spread  correct  information;  to  promote  the  cause  of 
virtue;  to  support  the  dignity  of  law — now,  more  than 
ever,  needed;  to  meliorate  the  heart,  thereby  elevating  the 
mind.  Let  them  link  hands,  and  say  one  to  another,  I 
know  but  the  South — the  South  emerging  from  her  ruins  ! 

It  is  manifestly  proper,  that  we  should  here  draw  the 
attention  of  the  craft  to  an  endowment  not  a  great  while 
ago  perfected,  having  for  its  object  the  training  of  young 
men  to  the  business — we  should  properly  say,  craft  of  jour- 
nalism. 

While  acknowledging  the  generous  and  liberal  temper 
which  prompted  such  an  endowment,  the  author  must  be 
allowed  to  remark  that  a  long  acquaintance  with  journal- 
ism in  general  leads  him  to  question,  very  seriously,  the 
uses  of  any  specialty  of  training.  Indeed  we  find  it  diffi- 
cult to  conceive,  through  what  peculiar  course  of  tuition 
one  could  proceed  to  arrive  at  the  knowledge  of  a  profes- 
sion, which,  almost  beyond  all  others,  demands,  not  only  a 
specialty  of  gift  in  the  individual,  and  singularly  various 
knowledge,  but  likewise,  a  long  experience  with  the  nature, 
the  wants  and  the  wishes  of  society.  There  are,  also,  great 
and  conflicting  principles  and  doctrines,  involving  a  con- 
flict, not  only  of  years,  but  of  ages.  It  does  seem  to  us, 
all  that  can  be  done,  to  prepare  a  youth  at  college,  for  the 
business  of  journalism,  is  what  the  college  now  proposes  to 
do,  in  the  work  of  a  classical  education.  In  this,  the  youth 
is  prepared  generally  for  all  the  professions,  and  no  college 
training  can  possibly  do  more.  It  certainly  cannot  go  into 
the  thousand  details  which  enter  into  the  business  of  the 
journalist.  It  surely  cannot  endow  the  individual  with 
those  gifts  of  intellect  which  are  special,  and  should  belong- 
to  the  journalist.     Nor  can  such  an  education  accomplish 


OF    CHARLESTON,    S.    C.  101 

more  than  perfect  him  in  the  languages,  in  the  sciences, 
and  in  general  literature.  The  school  for  the  journalist — 
assuming  that  he  has  acquired  all  that  the  college  usually 
imparts,  and  that  he  possesses  the  necessary  gifts  from  na- 
ture— is  the  great  world-school  of  humanity.  Professors 
might  lecture  on  journalism,  as  it  is  practically  known  to 
the  craft,  day  succeeding  day.  and  yet  these  censors  of  wis- 
dom would  not  impart  any  journalistic  lesson  to  the  stu- 
dent. The  embryo  journalist  would  still  have  to  go 
through  a  regular  apprenticeship  to  the  craft,  and  acquire 
the  essential  knowledge  by  hard  practice.  These  lessons, 
experience  has  taught  us,  are  to  be  found  in  the  thorough- 
tares — in  the  strife  of  parties — at  public  meetings,  and  un- 
der the  glare  of  midnight  gas. 

The  editorial  management  of  the  various  issues  of  the 
press,  calls  for  the  exercise  in  a  wide  field  of  talents  and 
acquirements.  They  come  forth,  for  instance,  in  the  state- 
ly quarterly,  the  less  voluminous  and  dignified  monthly, 
the  lively  weekly,  and  the  rapid  and  dashing  daily,  which 
is  required  to  photograph  the  hurrying  hour,  catching 
its  changing  views  ere  they  fly.  He  whose  capabilities 
have  placed  him  in  the  front-rank  of  journalists,  is  fully 
competent  to  teach  seven-tenths  of  all  the  college  professors 
in  the  United  States.  Scholarships  are  good  indeed,  when 
applied  to  general  education  ;  but  the  art,  craft,  and  mys- 
teries of  journalism  cannot  be  taught,  within  the  confines  of 
a  eollecje. 

AVe  will  here  state,  that  we  have  prepared  very  elaborate 
notes  in  regard  to  the  press,  both  of  the  City  and  State  ; 
likewise,  matters  appertaining  to  journalism  in  general, 
with  the  view  of  giving  them  to  the  public  at  some  future 
day. 

Journalism,  the  press,  editorship,  the  craft  in  general, 


192  THE    NEWSPAPER   PRESS. 

are  fruitful  topics.     They  must,  however,  be  discussed  here 
with  brevity. 

Knowing  the  objects  of  the  craft,  and  the  probabilities 
within  their  aim,  we  find  that  there  are  many  who  may  as- 
cend the  editorial  fauteuil.  Of  the  dignity  and  authority 
of  that  chair,  we  have  already  spoken.  Some  will  attain 
the  highly  responsible  position  of  business  manager  of  the 
press ;  others  again,  will  rise  to  stations  of  equally  great  re- 
sponsibility, implying  large  capabilities  ;  as,  for  instance,  the 
foremanship,  and  thus  the  efforts  of  the  entire  craft  are  be- 
ing strained  according  to  the  personal  ambition  of  its  re- 
spective members,  to  win  the  proud  position  of  a  public 
journalist.  But  to  obtain  success,  what  is  most  required? 
We  answer  diligence,  industry,  propriety  of  conduct,  so- 
briety of  habits,  and  assiduous  study.  If  these  conditions 
are  complied  with,  success  is  assured  to  all. 

"Stet  liber  hie  donee  fluctua  formica  marinos 
Ebibat;  et  totnm  testu<lo  perambulei  orbem." 


T  H  E    E  N  T) 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 


Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


5 

40V 10 1952  LI'. 

DEC    7  1353  Lti 


J5Dec!54BH 


.       it**** 
R  7     3956  Ul 


IMv 


My'56KO| 

AY  3  "  1956  LIS 
2&ciov6|LZ 


JAN  20  1969  2  8 


IN  STACKS 
HEC'D  LD 


^TER-LIBRARY 
LOAN 

AUG  1 1  1970 


^»m  , 


M 


6  *«• 


f69?PM 


■fr'.MMftl' 


LD  21-100m-9,'48(B399sl6)476 


>] 


y\ 


M71835 


V : 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


,*.  w 


r& 


